Community Archives - St. Mary's RC Primary and Nursery School

Helping the local food bank

Gracie ad Charlie have been hard at work helping out their local food bank. Last week they set up a family food bank at home, raising donations to deliver to St Mary’s food bank. Gracie and Charlie decorated a box with posters and left the box in their garden each day for all their local family, friends and neighbours to donate food items. They advertised the food bank by posting letters through our neighbours doors and with the help from mummy, posted on social media. The response over a week was amazing and they delivered our donations to the food bank. A brilliant way to help out the local community. Well doe to you both.

Advice for Families and Healthy Young Minds

Please find attached a selection of advice for helping to talk to children about the current situation and also an update on Healthy Young Minds provision at this moment in time.

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Neighbourhood HYMS Advice Poster (2)

CAFOD – What’s your goal?

Children from F2 to Year 6 took part in our Lent fundraiser – What’s your goal? Throughout the day children showed exceptional skill, determination and knowledge to perform keepie-uppies, score penalties, hit the crossbar and demonstrate their knowledge of football teams. The event was expertly organised the Year 5 children, who despite the cold and wet weather, maintained their enthusiasm throughout the day. Thanks to the children’s fantastic efforts we raised a brilliant £122. Thank you for your support.

Community Christmas Cards

Year 5 were out in force today to deliver their community Christmas cards to streets nearby. The children had taken time and effort t carefully make their cards and enjoyed spreading a little Christmas joy around the local area.

Children in Need

Today our CARITAS team were tasked with selling Pudsy Bear cookies throughout the school. After hours of long, hard work by the kitchen staff the cookies were ready to go on sale. Each child in the school received a cookie and through your very generation donations we raised £110.00. Thank you for your support and all involved.

CAFOD collective worship

Year 5 led the school in their collective worship which informed everybody about this year CAFOD appeal to Brighten Up and raise money for Harvest. The focus of the assembly was water. The children expertly told us how we use water everyday and take it for granted; however, there are also children around the world who are less fortunate and have to walk up to 5km, three times a day to fetch water for their family before going to school. However, with the help of the money so generously raised by St. Mary’s these communities are supplied with water towers and pumps which gives them a regular of water so that the children are all able to attend school. Throughout the school children took part in messy hair day and there were truly terrible hairstyles (and that’s just the teachers). Thank you to everybody for your kind donations and Year 5 in leading this year’s appeal.

F2 – Our Police Visit

As part of our People Who Help Us topic in EYFS we had a special visit in our classrooms from a police officer! We thought of lots of interesting questions that we wanted to ask her to find out about her job. We got to look at and try the police uniform and equipment. We learned lots of new things about the different jobs in the police force and completed a finger print matching activity, just like real police officers! Since the visit we have enjoyed using ink to create our own fingerprint patterns and have engaged in lots of police roleplay in our outdoor area. It looks like we might have a few future police officers in our classes!

Christmas Cards for the Community

The children of St Mary’s have been busy during the season of Advent making and delivering Christmas cards for our Denton neighbours. The cards were received with smiles and our children all enjoyed spreading some Christmas cheer.

Choir at Morrisons

Our choir brought some Christmas cheer to Morrisons on Tuesday when they sang a selection of Christmas Carols/Songs to customers and parents. The children’s behaviour was exceptional and they raised a fantastic £236.96.

Choir at Morrisons

St Mary’s choir brought some Christmas cheer to Morrison’s on Tuesday morning when they sang a selection of Christmas songs for customers.

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Christmas Concert

Along with children from St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, children from year’s 5 and 6 took part in the annual parish Christmas concert. This years theme was a journey of faith. Through, acting and singing the children re-told the story of Good King Wenceslas, who made the journey through the forests and deep mid-winter snow to give alms to the poor.

The children put on a fantastic performance with their fantastic acting and singing. Well done to all who took part.

Year 6 at Safe Squad

Today, year 6 attended the Tameside ‘Safe Squad’ in Hyde to learn about a variety of ways of keeping safe both now and as they get older.

Firstly, the children watched some scenarios that may affect them as they move to High school, such as: the correct use of 999; dealing with peer pressure; reporting and witnessing crime; learning what is a hate crime and the best way to tackle certain situations. The children gave some fantastic answers and showed great maturity, which was commented on by the actors and Police.

Following this the children learned about digital safety and how to stay safe online. They watched some videos about the effects of not staying SMART online. Again the children were very knowledgeable and gave fantastic answers and showed they are very aware of how to stay safe online and on social media.

Finally the children took part in fire safety, especially in their own homes and also they had the chance to have a go at CPR and putting someone in the recovery position.

Yr 6 Collective worship – CAFOD Harvest 2016

Year 6 lead us in today’s collective worship all about CAFOD’s Harvest 2016. They certainly Brightened up our day and are asking that next Friday everyone joins in and wears their brightest and boldest clothes. In return we ask that the children bring in a tin or packet of food that can be added to the harvest display before being donated to the St. Mary’s parish food bank.

Robinwood

Year 6 have returned safe and well from their adventures at Robinwood, although maybe a little tired. They have spent 3 days/ 2 nights at the activity centre in Todmordon. Giant swing, zip wire, archery, caving, climbing and raft building are just a selection of activities the children undertook in what was a fantastic few days. The children had a go at everything and their positive attitude, teamwork, communication and effort saw them complete virtually everything. Throughout their time away the children’s behaviour was excellent, with Robinwood staff and staff from other schools commenting on their excellent behaviour, great listening and beautiful manners. They have been a credit to themselves and the school.

Here a selection of photos…

Our Lady of Sorrows Feast Day surprise!

To celebrate the Parish and school’s feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows the whole school was treated to a very special surprise. During the afternoon the children were treated to an ice cream or ice lolly and an extra play to celebrate this special day. The surprise was enjoyed by all (especially the staff) who would like to thank the PTA for putting on the ice creams.

Denton Remembers Project

St. Mary’s year 6 attended at Victoria Park to unveil a plaque designed as part of the ‘Denton Remembers’ project to mark 100 years since WW1. As part of the project the class designed their own plaques during their time in Year 5. At the ceremony they were joined by children from other primary schools in the area, the Mayor and Mayoress and members of the local community.

School Games Gold Award

For the second year running St. Mary’s has been awarded the Sainsbury’s School Games gold award. this award is in recognition of all the sport we take part in at St. Mary’s as well as the many competitions we enter throughout the year. We were very privileged to be joined by Councillor Dawson-Lane and the Mayor and Mayoress, who presented this award in front of the whole school. A big thank you should go to all the staff who help with sports clubs and competitions and in particular Mrs Evans whose hard work and enthusiasm has helped us achieve this award. Finally, a big well done and thank you to all the children who take part sports at school and make the long journeys for competitions.

CAFOD – Brighten Up Our World

Thank you to all the children and families for their generous donations to the CAFOD appeal this year. Thanks to your donations we have raised a magnificent £117.48. In addition to we have an overwhelming response to the donations of food towards the St. Mary’s Parish food bank. Thank you again for your generosity and support.

6W Crucial Crew

6W enjoyed an afternoon at Crucial Crew today, where they learnt a lot about staying safe when growing up. They had presentations from the police, road safety, the countryside alliance, as well as learning about staying safe online, cyber bullying and much more. The children where exceptionally well behaved, in fact all three teams got full marks for behaviour, listening and question answering – meaning they to share the trophy!

6W Collective Worship – CAFOD

Year 6 Brightened up everyone’s day as they introduced the school to this year’s CAFOD appeal to ‘Brighten Up Our World.’ Through the stories of Creation and the colours of the rainbow quarrelling, the children reminded us about looking after each other and God’s creation. In addition, they launched the CAFOD appeal, which asks that the children dress up in bright clothes on Friday 2nd October and bring in a donation for CAFOD and a tinned food item that will be donated to the St. Mary’s food bank.

St Mary’s Visit Everton FC!

Our many links with the local community involve local businesses, who support us as we work to further develop the skills of the children. Findel Education in Hyde invited our children and staff to attend their prestigious charity fundraising event at Goodsion Park. The images below show the children taking on the role of mascots and the staff as match officials on the day! We helped raise over £5000 for Epilepsy UK and Christies respectively.

Christmas Beanies – Willow Wood Hospice

Thank you to all the children who bought a Christmas Beanie in support of Willow wood Hospice. We raised £126.00 for the Hospice.

Denton Community Christmas Concert

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An extract from the Salford Diocese website:

The town of Denton, 6 miles to the east of Manchester, is world-famous for its hats. Small wonder then, that the annual Christmas Concert in the parish church of St Mary in the centre of town featured some remarkable headgear. Advent-wreath hats, candle-hats, flat caps and even a night cap featured in the medley of sketches and carols put on by local schools.

Over 700 people crowded into the church to watch pupils from St Mary’s Primary School, St John Fisher Primary School, St Anne’s Primary School and St Thomas More RC College perform four different sketches on the Advent theme, on the evening of 19th December.

The meaning of the Advent wreath, a sketch on family life in Advent, a series of French ditties and dialogues and the world’s fastest-ever performance of Scrooge, combined with the lusty singing of traditional carols, made for a wonderful evening of prayer, enjoyment and praise.

Parishioners and pupils from St Thomas More served mulled wine and mince pies as guests filed in to the venue.

Fr John Flynn, Administrator of St Mary and St John Fisher, said, “we knew we were in for a treat when children from the schools were putting in hours of practice in the week leading up to the event. A hearty congratulations to all involved. I am sure that the event has helped prepare hearts and minds for the celebration of Christmas in a few days’ time. All are welcome to our Christmas Masses at 5.30pm, Midnight and 10.45am at St Mary’s, and at 7.30pm and 9.30am at St John Fisher”

Year 5 Build a Formula 1 Car!

Some of Y5 children went to St Thomas More College to take part in a STEM project event. The STEM project is co-ordinated by St Thomas More as part of their specialism in Science, Technology and Maths. The project involved the children designing and building a Formula 1 car (fortunately for the streets of Denton – not life size) and taking part in a Grand Prix. The children were most disappointed not to win the Grand Prix but had a great time and gained from working alongside children from other schools.

Eco-Schools Vision Statement

1. Saving Money

We hope that by making small changes to the environmental management of St. Mary’s it will result in some financial saving. This will be achieved by cutting out draughts, closing doors and windows, switching off lights and appliances when not in use will help reduce energy bills.

2. Recognition and Publicity

Through Eco-Schools we hope to raise the profile of St. Mary’s, in a way that is enjoyable and rewarding for the whole school community.

Celebrating our success will encourage people to work towards the next level and continue to be involved in the project long-term.

3. Links to the Curriculum

At St. Mary’s we are aiming to incorporate a variety of environmental topics into our curriculum, developing creative ways of learning for all pupils. It will provide real in –school issues for the children to investigate in a scientific and analytical way. Learning about being an Eco-School will provide the children with an overarching framework, helping pupils understand and link issues together, i.e. the connections between transport and pollution or management of the school grounds and increased biodiversity.

4. Links to the Community

We will aim to build strong partnerships with the local community; a vital part of Eco-schools, ensuring pupils can become more engaged in the decision making. It will involve as many pupils as possible, both inside and outside school, to raise their awareness of environmental issues.

5. School Improvements

Eco-schools is a project that all of St. Mary’s can work towards. It will provide an ideal focal point for across the year groups. By encouraging our pupils to take responsibility for the environmental management of our school, we will help them develop an increased sense of responsibility for their surroundings.

Eco-Schools Bronze Award

We’re very proud to have been awarded the ‘Eco-Schools’ bronze award:

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Our ‘Eco-Schools’ record can be found here.

Eco-Action Introduction

The Eco-Action team is made up of children from throughout KS2, with the help of Mr Whittle and Miss Wilson. We meet every other week to discuss aspects of the school and what we can do to make it more environmentally friendly.

We have recently carried out an audit of the school and will be acting upon this to make some changes for the better.

More information regarding the ‘Eco-Schools’ programme can be found on their website.