Latest News

Message from Mr Davies, Headteacher at St. Ambrose Barlow’s RC High School

Wed 23 Nov 2016

Dear Prospective Parent or Carer,

Thank you for attending our recent Open Evening on October 20th. We were absolutely delighted by the level of attendance (approximately 800 people) and by the very positive comments that we received. As a school that is committed to making improvements all the time I would like to invite you to complete a short survey about the evening. Your comments will be taken into account when we plan future events. The survey can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HW3M3P7

Book a school visit

Many parents and carers indicated that they would like to visit during the day to get a better feel for the school. We have identified two opportunities for these visits: December 1st and 2nd. Each visit will last 45 minutes and will start at 9:45 am. The headteacher and a group of pupils will host these visits and will be delighted to welcome you to the school. Unfortunately places are limited so we ask that all those interested phone into the school by 3.25 pm on Monday, November 28th to book a place. A member of staff on reception will take your details and secure your place.

We very much look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Ben Davis

St. Mary’s ‘Online Safety Day’

Wed 23 Nov 2016

On Wednesday 16 November we had an “Online Safety Day” for all pupils in KS2 and for parents too.

We had workshops in Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 with Leon, a CEOP trained ambassador, who also delivered a Parents’ Workshop after school.

In the afternoon all the children in KS2 also enjoyed ‘The story of WI & FI’ by Footlights Theatre, a tale of two best friends who find out that the Internet can lead them down a very difficult path.

The production and the workshops were a real eye opener, both for children, staff and parents.

Stone Age Conscience Alley

Fri 11 Nov 2016

Combining Drama with English is part of an interactive way to simulate the children’s imaginations. The children are currently using the Stone Age Boy in English with the end product of creating their own story.

Here the children are whispering to the Stone Age Boy and Om, the girl, what they should be feeling as they enter a mysterious cave which looks foreboding.

The description and use of the senses really fired their thoughts and we then used these in the plans for their own stories.

Fusilier Museum Trip – Bury

Fri 11 Nov 2016

Year 3 had a wonderful trip to The Fusilier Museum in Bury. We took part in several workshops experiencing how families were split by the men going off to fight and the women left behind at home to keep the country working. The children began to feel how the families felt being left behind with little or no knowledge of the soldiers whereabouts.

We then enjoyed Sergeant Dalton, the recruiting officer, who put the children through their paces. He showed us how you could either go in the army or prison and what kinds of equipment soldiers used in the WW1.

The children really enjoyed looking at the various items and artifacts from the different time periods and were appalled at the Trench Smell in the replica WW1 trench.

We have also received really positive feedback from the staff at the museum which shows what brilliant ambassadors our class and all at St Mary’s are:

All of the children who visited showed so much enthusiasm and were excited to learn and find out new things. This was wonderful to see as it makes our jobs so much more rewarding when the children who come to see us have fun and get involved. All the children were very polite and constantly had huge smiles on their faces. They asked and answered lots of questions and tried their best to understand how life has changed for men, women and children over the past 150 years.

The children who came last week should feel very proud for how they represented both themselves and the school and we really hope that St Mary’s will come back and visit us again in the future.

Free Internet Safety Workshop for Parents

Thu 10 Nov 2016

Using the internet, mobile phones and games consoles are now an everyday part of young people’s lives. The internet has changed all of our lives. There are obvious positive aspects to the internet, too many to mention in a list here, but there are risks for children. Parents need to know how to protect their children effectively.

Following the recent Online Safety Questionnaire parents were interested to know more details about:

Filtering & Monitoring of Devices
Privacy & Security Settings
Online bullying & trolling
Who parents and children can report online issues to.

As a result we will be hosting a FREE Internet Safety Workshop for all parents and carers on Wednesday 16 November 2016 in our School Hall from 3:30 – 5:00pm.

A crèche will be provided. We look forward to seeing you all to the workshop.

Year 2 Magical Musicians!

Wed 09 Nov 2016

Year 2 have recently enjoyed playing the xylophone in their music lessons. We have learnt the different notes for song to Twinkle Twinkle Little star and performed it as a solo, in small groups and in a round. We have also started looking at notes on sheet music and how some notes (crotchets) mean 1 beat and some (minims) are 2 beat notes.

Year 1 and Year 2 trip to The Fusilier Museum

Wed 09 Nov 2016

Year 1 and Year 2 had a wonderful trip to The Fusilier Museum in Bury. We took part in several workshops exploring toys from World War 1 and artifacts from different wars, including weapons and medals, and we really enjoyed trying on the variety of uniforms from different eras. Our experts talked us through how wars have changed through the years and we made comparisons with artifacts. We got to explore their trench exhibition and the terrible “Trench Stench” smells and make our very own medals. We would like to thank the Booths Charities for funding our trip as we all had a very enjoyable day.

Salford Schools Cross Country Championship – Round 1

Wed 09 Nov 2016

On a very cold and damp Saturday morning on Bolton Road Playing Fields, St Mary’s Cross Country Squad took part in the first of four meets in the Salford Schools Cross Country Championship.

The squad is split up into joint year groups, 3 & 4 boys and girls, 5 & 6 boys and girls. All of the runners did extremely well and for a first time on a new course they exceeded expectations. Out of all the Salford Schools that have entered we are currently sixth overall.

All the runners should be very proud and we should give special mention to four of the runners who received certificates for coming in the top twenty of their categories.

Next event is at Buile Hill Park on the 26th November where we aim to better our result and climb up the rankings.

Staying Safe at St. Mary’s

Fri 04 Nov 2016

Staying Safe at St Mary’s is an important priority for our learning environment both in and outside the school.

With the children we are producing Smartcards which each child will be able to attach to their school bags and it is a handy reminder of how they can Stay Safe in different situations.

Having been designed by the children and Mrs Sabatino they are now in production and will be available soon, free for each child from Year 1 to Year 6.

Stonehenge Construction

Fri 04 Nov 2016

Year 3 are nearing the end of our study into the Stone Age period. This week we looked at the start and end of the Bronze Age and how one of the world’s most famous historical sites was also completed.

After researching Stonehenge and the possible reasons for it’s creation we decided that, budding Stone Age builders that we are, it was a good idea to build a copy.

As we couldn’t use Sarsen Stones or the Bluestones from Wales as the original had we decided that biscuits was our way forward. Some of the creations worked where some were really difficult to complete. It gave us an insight into how hard it must have been for the people of the Stone Age who only had muscles, ropes and the occasional barge to help.

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