Following from the book review competition held in school, Joshua from Year 5 was picked to go to Radio Wave on World Book Day to talk about his favourite book. Take a look at the photos of his visit and listen to the broadcast.
Well done Joshua, we think you did a great job!
Some Year 6 pupils have been really eager to undertake a little fundraiser as part of their Lenten offerings.
They have decided upon an Egg decorating competition which they will organise and run themselves.
READ MORE ABOUT IT ON OUR PUPIL VOICE BLOG.....
Many thanks to our parents and families who took the time to consider this post of a Parent Governor for Our Lady of the Assumption Governing Body. Also our thanks if you nominated a candidate and our huge thanks to those parents who did put themselves forward for election.
We were delighted to have such a positive response and it is encouraging to know how many of our parents and families appreciate and support the great work that our Governing Body members do for our school.
Our huge congratulations go to Mr Flanagan who received most ballot votes and will therefore join our Governing Body in the Summer Term. He will receive notification from Local Authority Governor Services in due course.
Of course our huge thanks also go to our other candidates who put themselves forward. School is extremely grateful to you and sincerely hopes that if another vacancy does become available that you would consider becoming a candidate again.
A message to parents that a new 'Digital Parent Magazine' produced through CEOP is now available to view on our website.
The magazine, sponsored by Vodaphone is especially for parents and looks at issues we face in this rapidly expanding digital world. We have put a direct link to the magazine on our Parents page under the 'links' area on this page.
It would be interesting to know if any parents find this useful!
Shakespeare club have their final rehearsal before the curtain comes up for their performance of The Dream at the Grand Theatre today at 1pm and 6pm in association with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Please come along and support us. It is not be missed!
March heralds the beginning of spring so it is a month welcomed by almost everyone. It is also a busy month full of events and activities including Easter to keep everyone busy and entertained. We certainly have lots to keep us all busy this month here at Our Lady's!
It is the month which brought us St David’s Day on the 1st of the month and will herald St Patrick's Day on the 17th. World Book Day is on the 3rd March. Celebrated in over 100 countries around the globe it is a day which marks literacy and the wonder and enjoyment that come from the pages of a book. The 6th March is also Mothering Sunday when we remember Mums everywhere, whether they are still with us or not. The end of the month brings Easter when we remember the amazing sacrifice that Jesus made - he gave his life because he loves us so much.
World Book Day – 3rd March
Today - World Book Day, celebrates authors, illustrators and books. It is the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading. It is marked in over 100 countries all over the world. The main aim of World Book Day in the UK and Ireland is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading. We have had an amazing day at Our Lady's. The children had a wonderful day and all worked together in a very special way! Well done everyone!
Mothering Sunday – 6th March
The roots of Mother’s Day go back as far as ancient Greece, where Greeks had an annual spring festival dedicated to the maternal Goddess; Rhea, mother of the Gods. However we all have Anna Jarvis to thank for the modern Mother’s Day celebrations. After the death of her own mother she began a campaign to have one day of the year set aside to recognise and appreciate the role of mothers. In 1914, US Congress granted her wish proclaiming Mother’s Day as a national holiday. Other countries followed suit by celebrating Mothers Day, though not necessarily by having a national holiday.
8th March - 'Midsummer Night's Dream'
The children from our amazing Shakespeare club will be taking part in a wonderful performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' supported by the Royal Shakespeare Company. This is an incredible opportunity for our school and we are so proud of how hard our children and staff have worked in supporting the children in this very ambitious event. I know parents and families will be as proud as we all are when you see the performance at the Grand Theatre on Tuesday evening. Good Luck everyone!
14th March
One of Our Lady's favourite visitors - Dan Worsley will be coming in to judge a writing competition and speaking to the children about his latest work!
St Patricks Day – 17th March
Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is said to have brought Christianity to Ireland. He was born in Wales somewhere around AD 385. Early stories about St Patrick claim that he was carried off by pirates and spent six years in slavery before escaping and training as a missionary. St. Patrick is most known for his driving the snakes from Ireland. It is said that St Patrick stood on a hill and using a drum he banged so hard that the noise hurt the ears of the snakes and they slithered into the sea to escape. Another legend says that the snakes resisted so St. Patrick then tricked them into entering a small box and cast them into the sea. Whichever legend you believe, it is true that Ireland has no snakes!
He died on 17th March in AD 461 and this day has since been commemorated as St. Patrick’s Day. St Patrick’s Day is marked by the wearing of shamrocks, the national emblem of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Also on this day at 6pm - Our children undertaking the Sacramental Programme will be making their First Confessions (or Reconciliation) at church. This is a wonderful experience for the children and means that they are preparing fully to receive their First Holy Communion later on this year. We hope families will be able to join us on this very special evening.
During Lent the children have been thinking about how they can prepare themselves for the great celebration of Easter; some by giving things up, some by doing some 'little extra's' but all ways that we can think about the great sacrifice that Jesus made for us. In our last week in school before Easter, we will be thinking about Jesus' journey to the cross and the great love he showed for us all. This will lead us into Holy Week.
We will be holding our reflective assemblies to remind ourselves of the solemn events which led to Jesus' death on the cross
Friday 18th March -2.30pm Palm Liturgy in church KS1
Monday 21st March -9.15am - Year 3 Assembly – Last Supper
Tuesday 22nd March -9.15am - Year 4 Assembly – Garden of Gethsemane
Wednesday 23rd March -9.15am - Year 5 Assembly – crucifixion
Thursday 24th March – 9.15am - Year 6 Assembly – The Resurrection
We break up for Easter at 2pm on Thursday 24th March
Good Friday – 25th March
Easter is the most important festival in our Christian calendar. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, three days after he was executed. The Easter story is at the heart of Christianity. Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday. It commemorates Jesus' crucifixion and great sacrifice for all of us. Some people believe Good Friday was originally called God’s Friday, which, over the years, became its present name.
Good Friday is a day of reflection in the Christian church. During special Good Friday services Christians remember Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, and what this means for their faith. In some countries, there are Good Friday processions, or re-enactments of the Crucifixion. At Our Lady of the Assumption we will remember Jesus' death when we venerate the cross at a service and then mass beginning at 3pm.
Easter Sunday – 27th March
Easter Sunday marks Jesus’ resurrection. After Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, his body was taken down from the cross, and placed in a tomb. The tomb was guarded by Roman Soldiers and an enormous stone was put over the entrance, so that no-one could steal the body. Yet when Mary Magdalene visited the tomb on Easter Sunday she found that the stone had been moved, and that Jesus’ body had gone. Jesus appeared to his apostles for 40 days, giving many proofs that he was alive. Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on this day in the belief that everybody will be resurrected.
The custom of giving eggs at Easter has long been associated with celebrating new life.
At Our Lady's we wish all our children and families a blessed and holy Easter 2016
Just a reminder to all that we will be joining in with the worldwide celebration of books on Thursday 3rd March. We have lots of exciting activities planned in school to encourage our children to continue to delight in reading.
We would be really grateful if the children could dress up for World Book Day as either their favourite story character or their favourite author. If you are stuck for ideas there are some great (and simple) ideas on the World Book Day web page. There are also lots of ideas on these pages about how you can get involved and continue to support your child to read at home.
Thank you so much for your continued support, it really does make a difference!
ARE YOU READY FOR THE CHALLENGE?
A reminder that our Lent early morning Challenge Masses will begin on our first Friday back following the half-term break.
The masses will take place in the school hall at 8.10am each Friday until Holy Week. (Feb 26th, March 4th, 11th and 18th) We do hope children, families, Governors and Parish will join us each Friday as our 'little extra's' during Lent.
I will be looking for any children who would like to read at these masses and also for some of our Altar Servers to attend and help Fr Paul too.
We will be having our drinks and toast following mass; so if there are any adults who could help butter some toast or take flasks etc back to staff room as we pack away that would be a really big help.
