F2 performed an amazing musical version of the story of the nativity this week, singing and dancing beautifully. The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and reminded us of the importance of the Christmas story. Well done F2!
Category: All Pupils
Pupil related news for all year groups. For more class specific information and news please visit the individual Year Group Pages.
F1 Christmas performance
What a great performance the children in F1 put on for their Christmas singing show. We definitely spread lots of Christmas cheer with our beautiful singing and actions. What a great way to end the year in Nursery! Merry Christmas everyone!
Y1 – Advent
As part of our morning routine, the children enjoy opening their two Advent calendars. Today, our Church calendar focused on taking turns. In our social group today, the children ensured that they waited their turn to allow other children to have a go and completing the jigsaw.
Y2 Christmas Jumper Day
Y2 Advent
In Year 2 we have continued to enjoy sharing our class Advent calender each day. The children have enjoyed reading each others reflections and prayers. We have also made some beautiful nativity scenes to help us recall the events leading up to the birth of Jesus.
Y5 Advent
For Advent, the children have created a Jesse Tree and each day we are listening to a story linked to it. The children have also been sending home the travelling crib and sending back pictures and messages.
Y6 Advent
Year 6 have written a report, reflecting on the importance of the Advent season. They have thought about how we prepare for Christmas. The children have also led a beautiful prayerful liturgy encouraging us to think about how we can welcome Jesus into our hearts.
Y6 Christmas Jumper Day
Y5 & Y3 ‘Wolves in the wall’
The children in Year 5 have been writing nightmare stories over the last few weeks based around the book ‘Wolves in the Wall’. Once they had finished their stories, they read them to the Year 3’s. The Year 5’s really enjoyed having an audience to read their stories to and the Year 3’s all agreed that the stories were scarily spooky.
Y4 Advent
This week the children have been engaged in learning about Advent. They have been excited to open the CAFOD Advent Calendar each day to read the associated scripture and to discuss what this means to them and what they can do. Children have begun taking home a crib to share with their families and to record their shared experiences. We have also been reading Christmas stories and tales to learn about the different Christmas traditions and their origins.
F1 Advent
In F1 we have been learning about Advent and the special time in the lead up to Christmas day. We have a class calendar which a different child opens each day with an act of kindness for us to complete as well as part of the Nativity story. We have been learning about Jesus’ birth and read stories to find out what happened. The children have retold the story using props and figures. We are all very excited about Christmas and have been talking lots about what we would like Santa to bring us!
F2 Christmas Jumper Day
Y4 Christmas Jumper Day
Y1 Christmas Jumper Day
F1 Christmas Jumper Day
Year 4 – Christmas stockings.
This week has been an exciting week for 4P as we get closer to making our Christmas stockings as part of our Design and Technology unit of work. The children have researched the tradition behind Christmas stockings and made links from this to their own Christmas traditions. They have explored different designs for Christmas stockings and analysed these before coming up with their own design. Next week, we will begin to practise sewing and how to thread a needle before making our own Christmas stocking in the last week.
Year 6 – Creating art illusions.
In Year 6, we have been looking at creating art illusions. The children have thought about perspective through their use of lines and shading to create an optical illusion and have created some fantastic pieces of art work. Well done Year 6!
EYFS – Autumn Topic
In the final week of our Autumn topic in F2 , the children reflected on what they know about that changes that the season brings. They used natural objects to create transient art pictures of Autumn trees.
Y3 Design & Technology – Sandwich snacks.
In Design Technology, Year 3 have been looking at designing and creating their very own ‘sandwich snacks’. After doing some taste testing last week, the children were ready to start designing. We chose to do this by creating a ‘exploded diagram’, which helped us to clearly show all the ingredients and fillings that will be used in our sandwiches. Then, the children wrote a simple set of instructions to ensure they are ready for bringing their creations to life next week!
Y5 Design & Technology – Festive food
In D/T this term we are going to design a festive food product linked to our topic on bread. So far, we have tasted different types of bread, filled in surveys linked with how much bread we and others eat, made a basic bread dough and designed what our final product will look like. In the next few weeks the children will make and evaluate their final product.
Y2 – Puppet Making
Year 2 have been learning all about the art of puppet making in DT. The children have talked about the different ways of making puppets and the materials used. This week we have designed and labelled our puppets describing the tools and materials we will need ready to start the construction phase next week.
Y1 – Art
In Year One this week, the children have enjoyed getting creative. They have made a class advent calendar outlining twenty-four things that they can do to show kindness to one another. Some examples that the children came up with was being a good friend, sharing things and using our manners to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.
Y5 Science – Levers
In science, the children have been learning about levers. We created our own catapults to demonstrate how a fulcrum works and tested them to see which catapult was the most effective.
‘Wolves in the Wall’
The children in Year 5 have been writing nightmare stories over the last few weeks based around the book ‘Wolves in the Wall’. Once they had finished their stories, they read them to the Year 3’s. The Year 5’s really enjoyed having an audience to read their stories to and the Year 3’s all agreed that the stories were scarily spooky.
Y2 Weather and the seasons
In Year 2 in Geography, we have looked at weather and at the seasons. We combined the skills of Geography and Art to really think about how the world around changes as we go through each day, when investigating the weather, as well as through the year when thinking about the seasons.
Y3 Weather and Climate
In Geography, Year 3 have been learning all about weather and climate. Over the past few weeks, we have been spending a few minutes each day recording the weather in our daily weather diaries, to see if we could spot any patterns or changes. This week, we found out more about why the weather is like it is. The children learnt about how the world is divided up by the equator, the tropics and the poles and what this means for our global weather system. They also had their first so far in Year 3 at using atlases, in which they had to locate different countries around the world and think about what the weather might be like there, using their learning and the knowledge that they have gained in this topic so far.
Y5 The Alps
In geography, our new topic is linked to the Alps. The children used various maps to identify which countries the Alps crosses and then used playdough to create their own fold mountains. We also looked at tourism in the Alps and discussed the positives and negatives linked to it.
Y4 – Americas
This term, we are learning about the Americas as part of our Geography curriculum. The children have used Google Earth and atlases to locate North and South America and to describe its location. They have had to identify the equator as well as using compass points to do this. We have begun exploring some of the countries in South America and their capital cities as well as find out key information to complete a fact file on their chosen country. This led to a discussion on what information was important such as population, geographical features and important buildings and monuments. Next, we will be focusing on North America and answering some of the questions they have about North America.
F2 – Autumn theme
In F2 we are concluding our Autumn theme. We have found out lots of interesting facts about Autumn and this week, we explored Autumn in our local environment. We observed the changes in the trees and the weather, then recorded our observations through pictures.
F1 Autumn Animals
We have been busy learning all about Autumn Animals in F1. We talked about the names of the animals and looked at photographs as well as learning a special new word… ‘hibernate’. Then in our construction area we built homes for our hedgehog friends. We talked about where hedgehogs would like to live and what they might need to build a cosy home including leaves and lots of food to keep the going throughout the Winter. We have also been busy exploring our Autumn animal small world tray and joining in with lots of imaginative play!
F1 – Remembrance Day
F1 have been learning all about Remembrance Day. We made our own poppies and even drew some on the iPads using Purple Mash. We made poppy play dough and some special artwork about the fields where the poppies grow. We watched a special video about Flanders’s field and at 11 o clock we were all silent and thought about the soldiers and how they had fought for us. We said a special thank you prayer.
Learning about Diwali in EYFS
In F2, we have been learning about the festival of Diwali through videos, photos and books. We learned that Diwali is the festival of lights and is a very special time for some people around the world. We loved looking at the special traditional clothes that people wear to celebrate, watching the fantastic firework displays, seeing the beautiful mendi hand patterns, learning about the delicious food and dancing to the traditional music. We have explored these traditions through our play.
In F1 we have also been busy learning about Diwali, we read a book called ‘Little Glow’ which told us a story about this special celebration. We created Rangoli patterns, created firework play dough and paintings as well as making cards and our very own Diva lamps to keep at home. Great learning F1!
Our first theme in F2: All About Me
The children of F2 had a fantastic first half term: we have been becoming familiar with our school rules and routines… and most importantly, getting to know each other and making lots of lovely friendships. We started off our theme by exploring the story of Elmer, thinking about how we are all different and special. We retold the story through role play, then with a story map. Next, we created our own new characters for the Elmer story. We also reflected on what is the same and different about the members of our class and the things that make us special.
Next, we thought all about our brilliant bodies! We have learned lots of new vocabulary by naming our body parts, singing body songs and reciting body poems. We looked at the story of Funnybones too, making maps of the skeletons’ journey and suggesting new settings where the skeletons can go to frighten somebody! We have also been exploring our senses. We have been on a listening walk, tuning in to the wonderful world around us. We have explored our sense of sight through colour sorting and using kaleidoscopes and colour paddles, describing what we see. We used feely tubs to touch and describe materials of different textures and explored our sense of smell through herbs and mystery smelling pots! We have used our snack times to talk about our taste likes and dislikes.
The children have settled well and have enjoyed learning through play both indoors and outdoors. We have enjoyed lots of different number games to help us to recognise and order our numbers to 5, as well as representing 5 in different ways. When outdoors, the children have also loved dancing on our stage area and creating fabulous dens with our crates and blankets: they can be the perfect spot to share a book with a friend!
RE in F2: God’s Wonderful World
In our first half term, we focused on God’s wonderful world. We learned that God made the whole world and everything in it, including us! We explored how God made us all different and special. We have made paintings and zigzag books of some of God’s fantastic creations, as well as considering ways in which we can look after God’s world, such as keeping the seas clean, caring for plants and animals, plus recycling. We have said prayers together and sang songs to thank God for all that he has made: we continue to focus on this in our collective worship in November.
Y4 History Trip the GMP Museum
Year 4 enjoyed a trip to the GMP Museum on Friday, where they were able to extend their learning of crime and punishment, which is the topic that they are focussing on in History. At the museum, through looking at historical documents and photographs, we were introduced to Owen, a real Victorian thief and followed him through the charge office, cells and courtroom on a justice journey. We learnt about what would have happened in a Victorian Police Station, how it might have felt to spend a night in a cell, and finally followed the case to court, working together to decide on the sentence. We also discovered more about Victorian policing and investigated the life of the ‘Peeler’. The children had great fun trying on different uniforms and handling different artefacts that would have been used by police officers! As a class we were then judged by the museum staff on whether we would be good enough to join the Victorian police force.
Y4 History – Crime and Punishment
In History, Year 4 have continued to look at crime and punishment. In class this week we learnt all about what this looked like during the Tudor period. The children found out lots about common crimes that were committed during this time and enjoyed learning about some of the gruesome punishments that criminals received! They then compared this to their knowledge of Victorian crime and punishment and as a class we debated over which period we thought crime and punishment was most just.
Y4: Science – The Wonderful World of Bees
This week in Science, Year 4 have been learning all about bees and how important they are to our world. We have learnt about the different types of bees that there are, how they help to pollinate flowers and crops and how they make honey. We have even had a chance to taste some local honey! The children then researched some more into how bees help us and how we can help bees. Once they had gathered all their information and research, the children made a fact file all about bees to consolidate their learning.
F2: Science – Exploring the Secret World of Minibeasts
In F2 we are learning all about minibeasts! We have talked about different minibeasts, observing the details in photos and making pictures of them. We have been solving minibeast “What am I?” puzzles and writing our own. We have been finding information from non-fiction books and learning lots of different things. We have started to learn about different habitats and we have made a bug hotel for minibeasts outdoors. We are looking forwards to doing lots of minibeast hunting around our school grounds!
Y5 Science: Reversible and Irreversible Changes
In Science this half term, we have been studying changes – both reversible and irreversible. We have been doing several investigations to show this. We have looked how mixing baking soda and vinegar and create carbon dioxide and we proved this by showing how it can inflate a balloon when we mix them. We also looked at creating a new material when we mixed warm milk and white vinegar.
Y3 Science – Fun with magnets
This week in Science, Year 3 have been investigating the strengths of different types of magnets. We tested metal bar magnets, plastic bar magnets, small horseshoe magnets and large horse shoe magnets. We investigated how many paper clips each magnet could hold.
Y6 Science – Investigating shadows
In science this week, we have been investigating how light travels and how shadows are formed. The children worked in groups to make short videos to explain how light enables us to see the world around us. They also created silhouettes to investigate how shadows change according to distance from the light source and why this happens.
Science – F1 Minibeast Habitats
This week in F1 we have been very busy learning all about Minibeast Habitats. We have started to create a minibeast hotel in our outdoor area using pots, boxes and natural materials. We have also made our very own homes for minibeasts and chose which creature it might be best suited for. We looked for bugs outside using the binoculars and were lucky enough to find a snail, ladybird and beetle who are now our first hotel customers! We used checklists to help us find the minibeasts and also had lots of fun exploring the different creatures hidden in our slime tray outdoors this week! We have also been working hard to learn some new vocabulary linked to our topic and try and remember to use our new words in conversations in class! What a super science learning week we have had!
Y1 – Bird Feeders
In Science this week, the children in Year 1 have been considering how they can encourage more birds to visit the school grounds. The children decided that we should feed the birds.
In Science this week, the children in Year 1 have been considering how they can encourage more birds to visit the school grounds. The children decided that we should feed the birds.
The children had great fun in writing a set of instructions containing imperative verbs, then following their instructions on to make a successful bird feeder. Take a look at the different bird feeders that we have made and hung in the trees for the birds to enjoy.
Ourselves in F2
Throughout the first half term in EYFS we have thought about the topic of “Ourselves”. We began by thinking about how we are all different and special through the story of Elmer. Next we thought about our bodies through the story of Funnybones. Finally, we followed the children’s interests (they are animal mad!) by exploring the story of Dear Zoo. We have also been exploring our similarities and differences and exploring our five senses. Most importantly, we have been getting familiar with our school rules and routines, getting to know each other and making good friends. We are looking forward to exploring our new Autumn theme during this half term.
F2 – Learning about the Police
As part of our People Who Help Us topic in F2, we have been learning all about the police. We have used the computer and non-fiction books to find out information about the job of the police. Then in our class we have roleplayed being police in our class police station and in our outdoor area. Darcie has been lucky enough to visit a real police helicopter with her Dad! What an amazing experience, we have loved hearing about it in class.
People Who Help Us: Our Thank You Tokens
As part of our People Who Help Us topic, we have been thinking about the people and jobs in our community and the different ways that they help us. We decided to make thank you tokens for some of the people that are doing jobs that we are really grateful for such as doctors, nurses, fire fighters, police and lollipop people. Ellen’s thank you token for nurses is now proudly displayed in the entrance of Manchester Royal Infirmary.
We are Super Friends!
We are Super Friends!
In PSHE this week we have been thinking all about friendship: we are Super Friends at St Mary’s School! First we thought about the superheroes that we know and the powers that they have. Next we thought about the superpowers that we need to be super friends: powers such as kindness, sharing and looking after each other. Of course, no superhero would be complete without a costume. Our home learners both at school and at home then had lots of fun designing our Super Friend masks.
F2-People Who Help Us
The children in EYFS have started our new topic: People Who Help Us. In F2, we have begun by thinking about the people who help us both at home and at school, before we move onto our local community. This week, our learners at school and at home have loved using their imaginations to make models of people who help them. What fabulous artists we are!
Home Learners
In Year 6’s Art lessons we have been looking at fashion, one of the lessons involved designing a hat, we looked at designers such as Philip Treacy, this was one of the super designs that was sent in from home.
Year 6 have been studying ‘The Amazon’ in our topic lessons, Ellie produced this fantastic piece of Artwork at home, linked to the rainforest.
Celebrating Diwali in EYFS
In EYFS we have been learning all about the festival of Diwali. We have watched a video on CBeebies about how a little girl celebrates this special time with her family. We also looked at some pictures about found out different ways in which Diwali is celebrated. Children in F1 have made their own Diva lamps which they took home with a special candle to light. Also the children have explored some sparkly Diwali themed water and mark making activities. They have made Diwali cards and designed rangoli patterns. They have also drawn Henna tattoos on the handprints and designed a Diva lamp on purple mash too. Outside we listened to some traditional Diwali music and the children played along with the instruments and did some firework dancing. Children in F2 recorded different ways of celebrating Diwali through pictures and did some fantastic firework dancing on our outdoor stage to some Diwali music.
Remembrance Day
The children in F1 and F2 have been learning about Remembrance Day this week. We found out about the soldiers who fought in the war over 100 years ago to protect our country. We learnt that poppies grew on the battlefields when the fighting stopped. Our classrooms were filled with poppy art on 11th November: we make poppy pictures using oil pastels, poppy necklaces by using holepunches and threading onto wool, poppy paint printing pictures, poppy transient art and poppy pictures using Purple Mash. It has been lovely to hear from parents how much the children have enjoyed sharing their new knowledge with them at home.
Our first half term in F1
The children have settled so well into school life, they have made some lovely friendships as well as learning all of our school rules and routines. Our topic is ‘All about me’ and the children have been very busy telling us all about their families and also their likes and dislikes. We have been reading some favourite key texts each day and have also began our weekly class library service. The children have learnt new maths rhymes and games as well as exploring apps on our new EYFS Ipads. Outdoor learning has played a key part in our learning too and children have been busy exploring the areas outside and gaining confidence riding the bikes and scooters. We have done lots of creative activities in class as well as beginning to learn to copy and trace letters in our names. In Phonics our Phase 1 learning has included listening to environmental sounds as well as exploring instruments and body percussion. We have learnt names of different body parts and had fun with different dances and actions too. What a busy and exciting start to life at St Mary’s it has been for our F1 children! Keep up the hard work 🙂
F2: Our “All About Me” Theme
What a fun and positive start to the year it has been for F2. We have spent the first few weeks getting to know each other and familiarising ourselves with our rules and routines. We began with the text of Elmer: focusing on how we are all different and special. We acted out the story in different ways, thought of some super describing words for Elmer and retold the story using a story map.
Next we started to learn about our bodies. We have really enjoyed the story of Funnybones and have been retelling it in our small world area. We have been making skeletons, labelling bodies with our new phonics skills, making maps of Funnybones’ journey as well as doing the skeleton dance! Outdoors, we have been moving our bodies in lots of different ways whilst playing with our actions dice.
We have been exploring our senses in our discovery area. We have done some fantastic sorting whilst thinking about the sense of sight as well as exploring torches and kaleidoscopes. We have compared and described the feel and texture of different objects using our feely tubs. We have thought about hearing whilst experimenting with and describing the sounds of different musical instruments, plus explored taste with a delicious fruit tasting session. What a busy class!
EYFS Tapestry
Year 6 Video
The leavers video will appear here soon.
TEN:TEN Home prayer resources 29.06.20
Please find a range of resources to support your prayer life at home this week.
www.tentenresources.co.uk/daily-prayers-for-home
https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/sunday-liturgy-for-families/
https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/primary/parents/
The Feast of SS Peter and Paul 29th June 2020
Today we celebrate the Feast of SS Peter and Paul.
Please follow the link below for a video assembly so we may remember the day both at home and in school.
r Home
TEN:TEN home prayer resources 22.06.20
Please find a range of resources to support your prayer life at home this week.
www.tentenresources.co.uk/daily-prayers-for-home
https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/sunday-liturgy-for-families/
https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/primary/parents/
www.tentenresources.co.uk/15-prayers
Tenten Resources
Wider re-opening of schools – Director of Public Health
Please find attached a letter from the Director of Public Health regarding the wider re-opening of school.
The letter in full is below
TEN:TEN home prayer resources
Please find a range of resources to support your prayer life at home.
New Telephone Helpline service
Ready to Roll
We are looking forward to welcoming our Year 6 children back into school on the 8th June (hopefully!).
Following the safety guidelines set out by the Government, school has been prepared and is ready for the children to return.
Class Dojo – Years 2,3 and 4
This week Class Dojo has been rolled out to parents and children in years 2, 3 and 4. Year 5 have been trialing the app for the past week and it has proved extremely successful. It is an excellent tool for communicating between school and home. Teachers are able to answer questions and queries relating to home learning and children can also upload their work to their own portfolio so teachers can have a look and provide feedback.
All parents in years 2,3,4 and 5 should have now received an invitation to join Class Dojo and have also received a QR code so the children are able to set up their personal portfolios. Follow the instructions, download the app and you are ready to go. If you haven’t received your invitation or QR code please contact the school office.
Gingerbread men and growing veg
Emma has been busy baking delicious gingerbread men and growing onions and beans. She has been checking on them everyday to see how much they have grown.
Posters, poems and comprehension!
More fantastic work from Year 5 submitted to Class Dojo. Cody has written a wonderful poem about his time in lockdown, how much he misses everyone and his frizzy hair! Amelie has designed an excellent poster encouraging everyone to stay happy and demonstrating social distancing with monsters! Finally, Ella has been hard at work completing extra comprehensions and maths work. Well done and keep it up.
Yr 5 Class Dojo protfolios
Members of Year 5 have begun uploading their work to their portfolio on Class Dojo for Mr Whittle to check, comment and feedback. They have been exceptionally busy with their home learning which is great to see. Cody has been busy with his maths and English and his Amazon research; Anna has been working hard on her grammar and writing and keeping up her running; Beth has got stuck into the art unit and produce a Monet style painting and Ruby has been having a go at Year 5′ D&T topic and making some delicious burgers.
If you haven’t already please follow the link in the invitation you have received and download the app. You will also have had an email with the QR code for your child’s portfolio so they can upload work too. Year 5 are trialing this for the rest of the school so please sign up if you can.
Year 5 Class Dojo
We have signed Year 5 up to Class Dojo. This an interactive tool which allows communication between school and home and we feel would be particularly useful at this time. You will hopefully have received an email which contains an invite to join and a link to download the app. Within the app all conversations between yourself and the class teacher (Mr Whittle) are private but there is also a whole class message board as well. We feel this will be particularly useful in providing feedback for children’s work as you are able to upload pictures for Mr Whittle to see and provide feedback, ask and answer any questions and queries and also to keep up-to-date. In addition, children can also login to their own portfolio and upload work for feedback or ask any questions. Children can follow the QR code which will be emailed out as soon as possible. All is completely private and only the class message board is visible by all.
We believe that this is a very exciting way of us staying connected and means we will be able to provide feedback to children and on the wonderful home learning that we know has been taking place.
If you have questions please contact school.
Jack and the Beanstalk and Goldilocks
Before school closed children in F1 took home a seed and planted it. Ellen has sent in this photo of hers which is now 45cm high! Each morning she is counting the leaves t see if it has grown. also, Lottie has been enjoying reading about Jack and the Beanstalk, rearranging jumbled sentences, making story maps and written her own idea for the story. Finally, Frankie has been acting Goldilocks and the Three Bears, putting them to bed and feeding them porridge and looking at different sized chairs, beds and bowls.
Mixing colours and magical maths
Olly and Faith have both been hard at work at home. Olly has been keeping up with his maths whilst Faith has been mixing colours in her artwork.