“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Yesterday we went over to church for Reconciliation. Father Frank came into school the day before and asked the children to talk about a missed opportunity - a time when we should have done something, but we didn’t. It was a lovely opportunity to be able to go over to church and have some quiet time for prayer and reflection during this period of Lent. Father Frank congratulated the children at the end for being so respectful. Well done Year 5.

Our Lenten Reading challenge…

Next week, we will have our book club celebration and I’m pleased to see that so many have read their original Lent book and many have gone on to read others. Keep up the great reading, Year 5, and if you’ve yet to finish your original book, then please do so by the beginning of next week.📚

We completed our Run to Rome Sponsored Event for CAFOD

As you know, as a school we are running the distance from our school to The Vatican in Rome, which is a distance of 2180km. Year 5 were a given a target of 30 laps each to run and on Wednesday and Thursday, Year 5 completed all their laps, running alongside Year 6. 🏃🏻🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♂️👏🏻🥳

On Friday 25th April the school will celebrate reaching our total and will be sending Miss Heim Sarac, who is running for CAFOD , off on her London Marathon Event.

We would ask parents to collect sponsorship from friends and family and then pay the total amount through your child’s parentpay account. This event will be added to parentpay account ‘Run to Rome for CAFOD’ in order for proceeds to be sent directly to CAFOD as we are now a cashless school. Please can all sponsorship forms be returned by Tuesday 22nd April 2025. Thank you for your support.

Our award winners: 

Golden Award (LEARN)  - Elsie

Writing Award - Matilda

Maths Award - Martha

Our learning this week…

In English this week, we have written our letters about a significant event in our model text.

The focus of our maths this week has been comparing and ordering fractions less than 1 and greater than 1.

In RE the children have been working with Mrs Mannix on the theme of Inspirational people and have focused on how Josephine Bakhita lived out the Beatitudes.

This week’s prayer and liturgy was planned and led by Emily and Matilda. The theme of their liturgy was Reasons to Praise….They used last Sunday’s Psalm to inspire prayer of praise for God’s limitless love and mercy and they asked the class to write their own prayers.

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11: 25-26

In Computing the children used the Stop Motion studio app to make animations.

In Spanish we’ve continued to look at number and have practised phrases on the topic of family.

The BEBCMAT Rock Stars Super League competition runs till the 11th April. Good luck everyone!

Our school is currently in 3rd place out of 12 schools in the trust and we have scored 2,365 points (school average score) so far.

This week’s Our Lady’s Top of the Rock’s Leaderboard:

1st     Matilda     Year 4 30,952

2nd             Elsie                    Year 4      19,317

3rd     Sienna    Year4 17,827

4th     Annie            Year 4 17,592

5th    Alexander                    Year 5      14,835

Well done to those on our leaderboard! 👏🏻

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters. 

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Instagram. This free guide breaks down the latest risks on Instagram, including AI chatbots, scheduled messaging, and Threads. It offers practical tips for helping children stay safe on the app.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all. Thank you.

To read this week’s Good News Gospel reading, please follow the link to share the Gospel at home with your family. These are really child-friendly resources to share at home. Good News Gospel

Please also have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worship…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

March – June 2025 Year 5’s in school workshops with experienced drama/dance practitioners as part of the Tales Retold project

7th April - Easter Egg Competition Deadline – all children can enter

11th April - Easter Bonnet parade in school.

11th April - Close for Easter

22nd April - School reopens

Monday 28th April Year 5 & Year 6 trip to the Grand Theatre to watch the RSC First Encounters of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Payment of £3 for the trip can be made on Parent Pay. Thank you to those who have already paid.

Thursday 15th May Year 5 trip to Grand Theatre to watch Pig-Heart Boy.

Have a lovely weekend everyone! 

Mrs McVey, Mrs Hodgkiss and Miss Andrew

If you need to contact me or have any questions/queries, please contact me on  year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Goodbye to our ducklings...

We said goodbye to our ducklings😢

Sadly, the ducklings have now gone to their new home on a farm where they will be able to wander freely with other ducklings. We’ve really enjoyed watching them grow and getting to know them and we’re really going to miss them as they all have such loveable characters. The children particularly enjoyed watching the ducklings take a paddle in their own mini paddling pool. Yesterday, they paired up with their Reception buddies to share in the joy!

Our Lenten Reading challenge…

I’m delighted with how well Year 5 have taken on this challenge. It’s been great to see so many of them reading so many books and taking their quizzes. We’ve even got some children who have almost gone through all the books in our collection - over 10 books! Please continue to encourage your child to read as much as they can and read as many of the Lenten books as they can. For each book read, they will receive a golden ticket and will also receive a golden ticket for each time they read 3 times at home. At the end of this challenge we will have our book club celebration and a golden ticket winner will be drawn and they will win a special prize. Keep up the great reading, Year 5! 📚

Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Primary School Run to Rome Sponsored Event for CAFOD

As a school we are together going to run the distance from our school to The Vatican in Rome. We will be doing this by running laps around our field. Together we will run a distance of 2180km.

Our running club have launched the event by running 122 laps and they have pledged to run 1000 more laps.

Each class has been given a target number of laps to run - Year 5 will be running 30 each - before Friday 25th April when we will celebrate reaching our total and will be sending Miss Heim Sarac off on her London Marathon Event on. Miss Heim- Sarac is running for CAFOD  Please support us by sponsoring the run.

We would ask parents to collect sponsorship from friends and family and then pay the total amount through your child’s parentpay account. This event will be added to parentpay account ‘Run to Rome for Cafod’ in order for proceeds to be sent directly to CAFOD as we are now a cashless school. Please can all sponsorship forms be returned by Tuesday 22nd April 2025. Thank you for your support.

Our award winners: 

Golden Award (CARE)  - Conleth

Writing Award - Laura

Maths Award - Eleena

Our learning this week…

In English this week, we have identified and used relative clauses and we’ve also been looking at the features the writer has used in our model text.

The focus of our maths this week has been changing improper fractions to mixed numbers and vice versa. We’ve also been comparing fractions less than 1 and more than 1.

In RE the children have been working with Mrs Mannix on the theme of Inspirational people and have focused on the Beatitudes.

This week’s prayer and liturgy was planned and led by Luna and Jacob. The theme of their liturgy was Reasons to Praise….They used last Sunday’s Psalm to inspire prayer of praise for God’s limitless love and mercy and they asked the class to write their own prayers.

“Praise the Lord, my soul” Psalm 103:1

In Science this week we have continued to learn more about our ducklings.

In Computing the children used the Stop Motion studio app to make animations on a whiteboard.

In Spanish we’ve continued to look at number and have practised phrases on the topic of family.

The BEBCMAT Rock Stars Super League competition runs till the 11th April. Good luck everyone!

Our school is currently in 3rd place out of 12 schools in the trust and we have scored 2112 points (school average score) so far.

This week’s Our Lady’s Top of the Rock’s Leaderboard:

1st     Matilda     Year 4 27543

2nd             Elsie                    Year 4      18801

3rd     Alexander    Year 5 14101

4th     Annie            Year 4 13094

5th     Frazer                    Year 4      12955

Well done to those on our leaderboard! 👏🏻

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters. 

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Bluesky Social App. This free guide discusses the growing popularity of Bluesky, a public-first microblogging social media platform, and explores what parents and educators can do to ensure children's safety when using the app.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all. Thank you.

To read this week’s Good News Gospel reading, please follow the link to share the Gospel at home with your family. These are really child-friendly resources to share at home. Good News Gospel

Please also have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worship…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

March – June 2025 Year 5’s in school workshops with experienced drama/dance practitioners as part of the Tales Retold project

7th April - Easter Egg Competition Deadline – all children can enter – details to follow

11th April - Easter Bonnet parade in school – details to follow

11th April - Close for Easter

22nd April - School reopens

Thursday 15th May Year 5 trip to Grand Theatre to watch Pig-Heart Boy. Payment for the trip can be made on Parent Pay (this can be done in instalments if you wish). Thank you to those who have already paid in full.

Have a lovely weekend everyone! 

Mrs McVey, Mrs Hodgkiss and Miss Andrew

If you need to contact me or have any questions/queries, please contact me on  year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Meet our ducklings...

Our ducklings …

On Tuesday morning our 5 duckling eggs arrived in school and we were all very excited. Our first three ducklings hatched early Wednesday morning, then one at 10.45am during our reading time and we still wait to see if the final egg will hatch. We will enjoy looking after the ducklings till next week when they go to their new home. Over the course of the week, we will observe them as part of our Science work. Meet Ariel, Miranda, Calaban and Prospero (the names are characters from Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, which we will study next month)…

Our award winners: 

Golden Award (RESPECT)  - Hallie-Jayne

Writing Award - Aibhin

Maths Award - Olivia

Our learning this week…

In English this week, we have looked at the structure and features of the model letter. We’ve also been identifying modal verbs and and their importance in establishing certainty or possibility.

The focus of our maths this week has been finding equivalent fractions of unit and non-unit fractions.

In RE the children have been working with Mrs Mannix on the theme of Inspirational people and have focused on the work of Saint Damien.

This week’s prayer and liturgy was planned and led by Elsie and Oscar. The theme of their liturgy was The Transfiguration.... In the Gospel of the Transfiguration, Jesus showed His divine nature to Peter, James and John. He appeared to them physically in a way that they had never seen before and they were astonished. Elsie and Oscar challenged the children to think about how they will shine their lights like Jesus this week.

“This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” Luke 9:35

In Science this week we have looked at the life cycles of birds and reptiles. However, we have looked in more detail at the life cycle of ducks and have looked closely at the parts of an unfertilised egg and what each part is for when the egg is fertlised.

In Computing we began to tinker with the Stop Motion studio app to learn about making animations using the onion skin technique. We used playdough to have a go at making small changes to create a simple animation - it’s not as easy as it looks!

In Spanish we’ve continued to look at number and have practised phrases on the topic of family.

In art the children have completed their beautiful Sacred art on the theme of Hope for this Jubilee year.

The BEBCMAT Rock Stars Super League competition runs till the 11th April. Good luck everyone!

Our school is currently in 3rd place out of 12 schools in the trust and we have scored 1756 points (school average score) so far.

This week’s Our Lady’s Top of the Rock’s Leaderboard:

1st     Matilda     Year 4 25167

2nd             Elsie                    Year 4   17089

3rd     Alexander    Year 5 11154

4th     Ava             Year 4 9871

5th     Annie                     Year 4      9269

Well done to those on our leaderboard! 👏🏻

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters. 

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Streamers. This free guide highlights the potential dangers children face when watching and engaging with streamers and the importance of staying informed so you can help mitigate the risks.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all. Thank you.

To read this week’s Good News Gospel reading, please follow the link to share the Gospel at home with your family. These are really child-friendly resources to share at home. Good News Gospel

Please also have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worship…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

21st March - be bright and fun for CAFOD – own clothes day voluntary donation

26th March Key Stage 2 Blackpool Cross County competitive team event

March – June 2025 Year 5’s in school workshops with experienced drama/dance practitioners as part of the Tales Retold project

7th April - Easter Egg Competition Deadline – all children can enter – details to follow

11th April - Easter Bonnet parade in school – details to follow

11th April - Close for Easter

22nd April - School reopens

Thursday 15th May Year 5 trip to Grand Theatre to watch Pig-Heart Boy. Payment for the trip can be made on Parent Pay (this can be done in instalments if you wish). Thank you to those who have already paid in full.

Have a lovely weekend everyone! 

Mrs McVey, Mrs Hodgkiss and Miss Andrew

If you need to contact me or have any questions/queries, please contact me on  year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.













Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Science week

What a fantastic week we have had! This week has been Science week and each day the children have been treated to some wonderful experiences. On Monday, we had a visit from Falconry UK and we got to meet some wonderful birds. On Tuesday, we got to see Year 6’s fashion show. Some children from Year 6 were tasked with designing outfits using recycled materials. Their outfits were truly amazing and everyone in school got to vote for the best two designs and they will go to compete with children from other schools - good luck Alexander and Harriet from Year 6! On Wednesday, the children had a talk on reptiles and got to meet some…

Our award winners: 

Golden Award (LEARN)  - Zachary

Writing Award - Brooklyn

Maths Award - Gabriel

Our learning this week…

Our Tales Retold workshop with Sarah and Lawrence was fun this week. Due to Science week, we were in the church hall. They continued to play games that developed the children’s movement and voices and they worked together to create freeze frames of different scenarios.

In our other English work this week, we have used the new vocabulary from last week along with conjunctions to create complex sentences. We have also explored the emotions and physical reactions of the characters at different points in the text.

In maths this week we’ve begun working on equivalent fractions.

In RE the children have been working with Mrs Mannix on the theme of Inspirational people. 

This week’s prayer and liturgy was planned and led by Hallie and Gabriel. The theme of their liturgy was God always.... Their liturgy encouraged us to think about lots of different ways that we can trust God because His love is always constant! When we spend time with God, it helps us in our journey to become closer to Him, and so builds our trust in God too.

‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Luke 4:12

In Science we explored adaptation and the children had to match up different animals and their adaptations. We finished off our Science week by designing a dog for an island with a particular environment - Survival pup game. The children were given choices of features, for example, short tail or long tail, pointy ears or floppy ears, and they had to choose wisely based on the given environment. Points were awarded for each chosen feature and the dog with the best adaptations for the environment, won. Well done to William, who created the ultimate island dog 🐶🐕👏🏻🏆.

In art the children have continued to work on their Sacred art inspired by the Jubilee Year of Hope.

The BEBCMAT Rock Stars Super League competition runs till the 11th April. Good luck everyone!

Our school is currently in 4th place out of 12 schools in the trust and we have scored 733 points (school average score) so far.

This week’s Our Lady’s Top of the Rock’s Leaderboard:

1st     Matilda     Year 4 17633

2nd             Elsie                    Year 4  13574

3rd     Ava       Year 4 8219

4th     Annie             Year 4 7154

5th     Frazer                     Year 4      6351

Well done to those on our leaderboard! 👏🏻

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters. 

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Roblox. This free guide highlights the potential risks of Roblox, including online encounters, inappropriate content, scams, and in-game purchases, and offers expert advice on how to mitigate these risks.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all. Thank you.

To read this week’s Good News Gospel reading, please follow the link to share the Gospel at home with your family. These are really child-friendly resources to share at home. Good News Gospel

Please also have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worship…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

17th March 1pm to 5.30pm parent information afternoon in school hall – booking link to follow soon

18th March - Shakespeare Club performance at Grand Theatre. Good luck everyone! 🎭

21st March - be bright and fun for CAFOD – own clothes day voluntary donation

26th March Key Stage 2 Blackpool Cross County competitive team event

March – June 2025 Year 5’s in school workshops with experienced drama/dance practitioners as part of the Tales Retold project

7th April - Easter Egg Competition Deadline – all children can enter – details to follow

11th April - Easter Bonnet parade in school – details to follow

11th April - Close for Easter

22nd April - School reopens

Thursday 15th May Year 5 trip to Grand Theatre to watch Pig-Heart Boy. Payment for the trip can be made on Parent Pay (this can be done in instalments if you wish). Thank you to those who have already paid in full.

Have a lovely weekend everyone! 

Mrs McVey, Mrs Hodgkiss and Miss Andrew

If you need to contact me or have any questions/queries, please contact me on  year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Beginning our Lenten journey

Lent

On Ash Wednesday we marked the start of Lent by receiving the ashes in church. Lent is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter. By observing the 40 days of Lent, or 46 if we count Sundays, we replicate Jesus Christ's sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days. It is a time to refocus on Jesus as we look ahead to his death on the Cross at Easter and rejoice over his miraculous return. It is a time for reflecting on what we could do differently or maybe what we could do more of or less of during this time. 

In class, the children have made their Lenten promises, linked to one of the Beatitudes, which are eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Please ask your child to share with you what their Lenten promise (linked to the Beatitude "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth" ) is and encourage them to keep this promise over Lent.

Lent Reading Challenge

For Lent, I have also asked the children to take on a class reading challenge. By the end of term, we - Year 5, Mrs McVey, Mrs Hodgkiss and Miss Andrew - will read one of three books (chosen by the children). In the last week before we break up, we will celebrate our reading achievement by sharing our thoughts on the book with a book club party. Please encourage your child to read their chosen book to enable them to enjoy our book club at the end of term. You never know, some children might even go the extra mile and end up reading all three (Now there’s a challenge!). I have to add that I’m absolutely delighted…we started the challenge on Wednesday and already a number of children have finished their first book and have moved onto the next one! 📚🥳👏🏻📚

Jubilee Year of Hope

We’ve also been talking about this special Jubilee year. Pope Francis wrote a special letter to tell everyone about the Jubilee, and he gave his letter a name, “Hope Does Not Disappoint”. He wants the Jubilee of 2025 to be a special year that reminds us that hope is very important, because when we have hope we know we can always trust God to take care of us. 

When things are hard, we don’t have to be afraid because nothing can take us away from God’s love. Jesus showed us this when He died and came back to life. This gives us hope, which is like a light inside us that keeps shining, even on bad days.

The Diocese of Lancaster is inviting all schools to take part in an exciting art competition to celebrate the Jubilee of Hope. This week, Year 5 have started their piece of Sacred art, showing  one of the big Jubilee ideas, like forgiving others, being kind and fair and trusting Jesus.

World Book Day

Yesterday we celebrated World Book Day. Thanks for supporting us with this event - the children all looked amazing dressed up in the costume of their favourite book characters. We had a great day!

We started our day in Reception. It was so heartwarming watching Year 5 reading and talking to their buddies, they were all so good and Reception enjoyed listening to the stories. We also tuned into a legendary poet, author and Children’s Bookshow patron, Michael Rosen, who treated us to an inspiring online show of live poetry. The children were also given the opportunity to share their book by writing a book review to place in our book corner. 📚

Poetry success!

We heard back from our poetry competition that we entered and we’re delighted to know that most of our poems have been chosen to be published. Your child will have come home with a letter from the organisation requesting your permission and other details. The children all received certificates and are so excited at the prospect of being published poets. Well done Year 5, I’m delighted for you all! 👏🏻🥳

Our award winners: 

Golden Award (CARE)  - Year 5 (for the kindness and friendship that they have all shown their buddies this week - supporting them in mass on Wednesday and on World Book Day.)

Writing Award - Jackson

Maths Award - Beaux

Our learning this week…

In English we had our first Tales Retold workshop with Sarah and Lawrence. Year 5 had a great time playing games to encourage use of voice and movement. We then finished the session with the children working in small groups to make one word stories which will be developed next week.

In our other work the children have written have explored new language within our modelled text.

In maths this week we’ve been working on our formal methods of division.

In RE the children have been working with Mrs Mannix on the theme of Inspirational people.

This week’s prayer and liturgy was planned and led by Martha and Callum. The theme of their liturgy was The Jesus Way. Their liturgy reflected on how to be like Jesus by following His example of humility and persistence in prayer. When we get to know Him personally, we can have confidence in His love and do whatever He asks of us.

'For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.’ (Luke 6:43-44)

In Science the children took part in a live lesson to celebrate the start of Science Week. Our lesson focused on the change and adaptations of reptiles, featuring  wildlife expert, Mike Linley. 

In computing the children were introduced to animation and had a go at creatng their own 19th Century animation toys: zoetropes and flip books.

In PE the children are working with PE specialist Luke from Blackpool Football Club Community Trust. The focus of their lessons this half term is invasion games.

The BEBCMAT Rock Stars Super League competition runs till the 11th April. Good luck everyone!

Our school is currently in 4th place out of 12 schools in the trust and we have scored 733 points (school average score) so far.

This week’s Our Lady’s Top of the Rock’s Leaderboard:

1st     Matilda     Year 4 14280

2nd             Elsie                    Year 4  10585

3rd   Ava     Year 4 6714

4th     Annie             Year 4 5944

5th     Frazer                     Year 4      5703

Well done to those on our leaderboard! 👏🏻

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters. 

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

What Parents & Educators Need to Know about WhatsApp. This guide details the risks associated with popular messaging app WhatsApp, and lets you know how to safeguard younger users.

What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Marvel Rivals. This free guide breaks down the risks associated with the popular multiplayer title Marvel Rivals and lets you know how best to safeguard children and young people playing the game.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all. Thank you.

To read this week’s Good News Gospel reading, please follow the link to share the Gospel at home with your family. These are really child-friendly resources to share at home. Good News Gospel

Please also have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worship…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

10th - 14th March Science Week in school

11th March Blackpool Catholic Schools Shared Lenten Liturgy St Kentigen’s School 6pm

17th March 1pm to 5.30pm parent information afternoon in school hall – booking link to follow soon

18th March - Shakespeare Club performance at Grand Theatre.

21st March - be bright and fun for CAFOD – own clothes day voluntary donation

26th March Key Stage 2 Blackpool Cross County competitive team event

March – June 2025 Year 5’s in school workshops with experienced drama/dance practitioners as part of the Tales Retold project

7th April - Easter Egg Competition Deadline – all children can enter – details to follow

11th April - Easter Bonnet parade in school – details to follow

11th April - Close for Easter

22nd April - School reopens

Thursday 15th May Year 5 trip to Grand Theatre to watch Pig-Heart Boy. Payment for the trip can be made on Parent Pay (this can be done in instalments if you wish). Thank you to those who have already paid in full.

Great work this week Year 5, well done! Have a lovely weekend! 

Mrs McVey, Mrs Hodgkiss and Miss Andrew

If you need to contact me or have any questions/queries, please contact me on  year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

I say this to you who are listening. (Luke 6:27)

We’ve had a good start to this half term, well done Year 5! Thank you to all of you who took home your Edina Trust pots to look after over half term. We did have one of our mystery bulbs, which we now know is an Iris, and one crocus which bloomed over half term (and more or now beginning to) so this half term the children will continue to collect weather data and also be recording the dates that their flowers bloom and recording their height. This is all important data which will contribute to the Edina Trusts findings.

Please make sure you look at the dates for your diary at the bottom of this blog, there’s lots of things happening over this half term and in to the next one. World Book day is on next Thursday so please look at the blog below to find out how the children need to prepare.

The start of Lent is also next week and we’ll be making our Lenten promises. I’ll also be setting a Lenten book challenge for all the children to take part in this half term too. Please encourage your child to actively take part in this by reading as much as possible. Thanks.

Our award winners: 

Golden Award (RESPECT)  - Luna

Writing Award - William

Maths Award - Florence

Our learning this week…

In English we have begun our new writing unit to write a letter about a significant event in the story using our text FArTHER by Grahame Baker-Smith.

In maths this week we’ve been working on our formal methods of multiplication.

In RE the children have been working with Mrs Mannix on the theme of Inspirational people. This week they were introduced to the idea of being Mini Vinnies and have applied to take on that role. Please ask your child about them.

This week’s prayer and liturgy was planned and led by Florence and Olivia. The theme of their liturgy was Listen. The Gospel tells us to love our enemies and bless those who curse us. Before teaching this, Jesus says, “I say this to you who are listening.” (Luke 6:27) If we have the courage to listen seriously to Jesus’ words, we will find that they are very challenging! The girls liturgy invited the children to listen to what God is asking of us through Scripture and apply it to each moment of your day.

In Science the children have  compared the life cycles of insects and amphibians.

In computing the children have begun to decode a scoreboard program on the Micro-bit.

In PE the children are working with PE specialist Luke from Blackpool Football Club Community Trust. The focus of their lessons this half term is invasion games.

Our resilient move challenges for are:

  • Be brave (Belonging potion)

  • Make friends and mix with other people (Coping potion)

Build your resilience

How many resilient moves can you make this week? 

Use the resilient framework to identify the ones you and your family make. Resilience Framework

Thank you to Emily who has shared her resilient moves this week…

If you would like to share a photo of your child making a resilient move, then send them to our email year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will post them here each week. For example, a photo of a bike ride - the resilient move would be fresh air and exercise which comes from the basic potion on the framework. Please note: if the photo has other children on it, please ensure you have consent to share it with me. 

World Book Day Challenge!

Next week (Thursday 6th March), we will celebrate World Book Day by dressing up as our favourite book characters and bringing in our favourite books to share with each other. In addition to this, I’d like Year 5 to choose a favourite picture book they used to enjoy when they were 5 (this should be a different book to the other favourite one) and prepare a reading  to read to their Reception buddy  on the day. Year 5 should be able to share the book with confidence, enthusiasm and expression. 

The BEBCMAT Rock Stars Super League competition runs till the 11th April. Good luck everyone!

Our school is currently in 3rd place out of 12 schools in the trust and we have scored 733 points (school average score) so far.

This week’s Our Lady’s Top of the Rock’s Leaderboard:

1st Matilda     Year 4 5397

2nd     Ava  Year 4  3053

3rd Matilda     Year 3 2806

4th Elsie Year 4 2599

5th Leo.           Year 5      2425

Well done to those on our leaderboard! 👏🏻

Our Lady’s have taken part in the Young Seasiders Blackpool Art Competition. Each teacher was asked to put forward two pieces of art work from their class into the exhibition, which will take place at Blackpool and the Fylde College from 4-28th March. Out of all the pieces of work, one KS1 and one KS2 winner has been chosen. The Year 5 artists’ work chosen: Olivia and Aibhin 👏🏻👏🏻. Please support them by going to see the exhibition - see flyer on the link below for details.

Young Seasiders Exhibition Letter

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters. 

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

What Parents & Educators Need to Know about WhatsApp. This guide details the risks associated with popular messaging app WhatsApp, and lets you know how to safeguard younger users.

What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Marvel Rivals. This free guide breaks down the risks associated with the popular multiplayer title Marvel Rivals and lets you know how best to safeguard children and young people playing the game.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all. Thank you.

To read this week’s Good News Gospel reading, please follow the link to share the Gospel at home with your family. These are really child-friendly resources to share at home. Good News Gospel

Please also have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worship…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

28th February after school PTFA Spring Bingo event for families

5th March Whole School Mass for Ash Wednesday in church at 9.30am – families welcome to join us.

6th March World Book Day – dress up day and bring your favourite book to school. Year 5 will also need to bring a favourite story book to share with your buddy (see note about World Book day above).

10th - 14th March Science Week in school

11th March Blackpool Catholic Schools Shared Lenten Liturgy St Kentigen’s School 6pm

17th March 1pm to 5.30pm parent information afternoon in school hall – booking link to follow soon

18th March - Shakespeare Club performance at Grand Theatre.

21st March - be bright and fun for CAFOD – own clothes day voluntary donation

26th March Key Stage 2 Blackpool Cross County competitive team event

March – June 2025 Year 5’s in school workshops with experienced drama/dance practitioners as part of the Tales Retold project

7th April - Easter Egg Competition Deadline – all children can enter – details to follow

11th April - Easter Bonnet parade in school – details to follow

11th April - Close for Easter

22nd April - School reopens

Thursday 15th May Year 5 trip to Grand Theatre to watch Pig-Heart Boy. Payment for the trip can be made on Parent Pay (this can be done in instalments if you wish). Thank you to those who have already paid in full.

Great work this week Year 5, well done! Have a great weekend! 

Mrs McVey, Mrs Hodgkiss and Miss Andrew

If you need to contact me or have any questions/queries, please contact me on  year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Oracy Symposium

Oracy Symposium

On Monday, Year 5 took part in the Blackpool Grand Theatre’s first ever Oracy Symposium with other schools across Blackpool and Fylde. There were Professors from Durham University and members of DebateMate who worked with the children in workshops to develop their oracy skills. They had a workshop on accent and dialect, one on debating skills and one on youth voice outside the classroom. The children worked really hard and I was really proud of how they all engaged in the activities with great enthusiasm and respect. Well done Year 5!

Dance club at Schools Alive

Well done to our Dance club who performed at the Winter Gardens last night. Mrs Ormerod was so proud of the amazing work you all did and you all looked fabulous! 👏🏻⭐️😊

Please see the link for photos from last night…https://animoto.com/play/XYKcNhVwejWqx5cJb1F8TA

Our award winners: 

Golden Award - Laura

Writing Award - Willow

Maths Award - William

Our learning this week…

In English they’ve continued to develop their use of figurative language and they’ve also been writing sentences using parenthesis indicated by commas and dashes. Lastly, they have begun to plan their big write for next wek.

In maths this week we’ve been finding the perimeter of different shapes and have begun to calculate the area of rectangles.

In RE the children have been working with Mrs Mannix on the theme of Inspirational people.

This week’s prayer and liturgy was planned and led by Aibhin and Leo. The theme of their liturgy was Listen. This week’s Gospel tells us to love our enemies and bless those who curse us. Before teaching this, Jesus says, “I say this to you who are listening.” If we have the courage to listen seriously to Jesus’ words, we will find that they are very challenging! This prayer invites us to listen to what God is asking of us through Scripture and Aibhin and Leo challenged the Year 5 to apply it to each moment of their day..

“For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations” (Luke 2:22-40)

In Science the children have thought about the process of asexual reproduction in plants. The children have investigated bulbs, runners, tubers and cuttings. We also planted a spider plant each, which had been growing off runners in our classroom and from one that I had at home. To do our bit for the planet, we have reused the milk cartons to grow our plant in.

In computing the children have used the Microbit to create a poll program.

In art the children have continued to work on their Alberto Giacometti inspired sculptures using modrock.

In Spanish the children can say how many siblings they have and say what they are called.

In PE the children are working with PE specialist Luke from Blackpool Football Club Community Trust. The focus of their lessons this half term is invasion games.

World Book Day Challenge!

On the 6th March, we will celebrate World Book Day by dressing up as our favourite book characters and bringing in our favourite books to share with each other. In addition to this, I’d like Year 5 to choose a favourite picture book they used to enjoy when they were 5 (this should be a different book to the other favourite one) and prepare a reading to read to their Reception buddy on the day. Year 5 should be able to share the book with confidence, enthusiasm and expression.

The BEBCMAT Rock Stars Super League competition runs till the 14th February. Good luck everyone!

Our school is currently in 4th place out of 12 schools in the trust and we have scored 1841 points (school average score) so far.

This week’s Our Lady’s Top of the Rock’s Leaderboard:

1st Matilda Year 4 32723

2nd Ava Year 4 32622

3rd Harriet Year 6 13096

4th Matilda Year 3 12811

5th Leo Year 5  10444

Well done to everyone on our leaderboard this week!👏🏻

Please encourage your child to practise their times tables by using TTRS so that they also contribute points to our competition. Unfortunately, only a small number of our class are actually using TTRS as part of their homework. Come on Year 5, you can do your bit!

Well done to Leo who is in our top five on the leaderboard!👏🏻

To read this week’s Good News Gospel reading, please follow the link to share the Gospel at home with your family. These are really child-friendly resources to share at home. Good News Gospel

Please also have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worship…

TenTen Parent Newsletter


12th February Safer Internet Day ‘Too good to be true? Protecting yourself and others from scams online‘

13th February Year 5 RSC workshop .Although the children will be dressed in their dream job outfits, please ensure approriate footwear is worn for drama based activities. Please look out for an email regarding photo permissions.

13th February Dress up day - What will I be when I grow up? School Council have organised the day. Come dressed in your dream job £1 donation to launch ourCafod fund via parentpay

13th February School closes for half term 3.15pm

25th February School reopens

27th February Blackpool Symphony Orchestra musician workshop (invite only)

28th February after school PTFA Spring Bingo event for families

5th March Whole School Mass for Ash Wednesday in church – families welcome to join us.

6th March World Book Day – dress up day and bring your favourite book to school. Year 5 will also need to bring a favourite story book to share with your buddy (see note about World Book day above).

10th - 14th March Science Week in school

11th March Blackpool Catholic Schools Shared Lenten Liturgy St Kentigen’s School 6pm

17th March 1pm to 5.30pm parent information afternoon in school hall – booking link to follow soon

26th March Key Stage 2 Blackpool Cross County competitive team event

March – June 2025 Year 5’s in school workshops with experienced drama/dance practitioners as part of the Tales Retold project

Thursday 15th May Year 5 trip to Grand Theatre to watch Pig-Heart Boy. Payment for the trip can be made on Parent Pay (this can be done in instalments if you wish). Thank you to those who have already paid in full.

Great work this week Year 5, well done! Have a great weekend! 

Mrs McVey, Mrs Hodgkiss and Miss Andrew

If you need to contact me or have any questions/queries, please contact me on  year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me...to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Our award winners: 

Golden Award (RESPECT) - Gabriel

Writing Award - Stephen 

Maths Award - Emily

Our learning this week…

In English the children have worked on their poetry and have selected their favourite poem that they are most proud of to enter the poetry competition. The children really enjoyed selecting their poem and have neatly written it up ready for them to be sent off this week. They’re really excited! Good luck Year 5!

We’ve also been working on creating similes and metaphors.

In maths this week we’ve finished off our unit on multiplication and division and have begun our new unit on perimeter and area.

In RE the children have been working with Mrs Mannix on the theme of Inspirational people.

This week’s prayer and liturgy was planned and led by Zachary and Jackson. The theme of their liturgy was A Year of the Lord’s Favour. Inspired by Sunday’s Gospel, which introduces themes of the Jubilee Year, the boys’ prayers this week invited the children to intercede for the needs of the world and they wrote their own prayers asking God to help those who need it.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.” (Luke 4:18-19)

In science we dissected and labelled the male and female parts of the flower.

In computing we have designed animation and programmed the Micro:bit to execute it.

In art the children have continued to work on their Alberto Giacometti inspired cultures.

In Spanish we have continued to learn to ask and answer questions about our families.

In PE the children are working with PE specialist Luke from Blackpool Football Club Community Trust. The focus of their lessons this half term is invasion games.

The focus of our Bounce Forward (PSHE) session has been exploring their own feelings.

Build your resilience

How many resilient moves can you make this week? 

Use the resilient framework to identify the ones you and your family make. Resilience Framework

This week’s resilient move challenges are:

  • Get some fresh air and exercise (Basics potion)

  • Focus on the good things in life. Put your positivity glasses on. (Coping potion)

If you would like to share a photo of your child making a resilient move, then send them to our email year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will post them here each week. For example, a photo of a bike ride - the resilient move would be fresh air and exercise, which comes from the basic potion on the framework. Please note: if the photo has other children on it, please ensure you have consent to share it with me. 

World Book Day Challenge!

On the 6th March, we will celebrate World Book Day by dressing up as our favourite book characters and bringing in our favourite books to share with each other. In addition to this, I’d like Year 5 to choose a favourite picture book they used to enjoy when they were 5 (this should be a different book to the other favourite one) and prepare a reading to read to their Reception buddy on the day. Year 5 should be able to share the book with confidence, enthusiasm and expression.

Which book will you choose, Year 5?

The BEBCMAT Rock Stars Super League competition runs till the 14th February. Good luck everyone!

Our school is currently in 3rd place out of 12 schools in the trust and we have scored 1122 points (school average score) so far.

This week’s Our Lady’s Top of the Rock’s Leaderboard:

1st Matilda Year 4 30540

2nd Ava Year 4 30235

3rd Harriet Year 6 13096

4th Matilda Year 3 12665

5th Leo Year 5  9584

Well done to everyone on our leaderboard this week!👏🏻

Please encourage your child to practise their times tables by using TTRS so that they also contribute points to our competition. Unfortunately, only a small number of our class are actually using TTRS as part of their homework. Come on Year 5, you can do your bit!

Well done to Leo who is in our top five on the leaderboard!👏🏻

To read this week’s Good News Gospel reading, please follow the link to share the Gospel at home with your family. These are really child-friendly resources to share at home. Good News Gospel

Please also have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worship…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

3rd February Year 5 visit to Blackpool Grand Theatre’s Oracy Symposium. We will leave just after the start of the school day and return before the end of the school day. Please wear full PE kit and bring a packed lunch and your water bottle.

6th February Dance Club Schools Alive rehearsals and evening. Good luck to our dancers!

performance

13th February Dress up day - What will I be when I grow up? School Council have organised the day. Come dressed in your dream job £1 donation to launch ourCafod fund via parentpay

13th February School closes for half term 3.15pm

25th February School reopens

27th February Blackpool Symphony Orchestra musician workshop (invite only)

28th February after school PTFA Spring Bingo event for families

5th March Whole School Mass for Ash Wednesday in church – families welcome to join us.

6th March World Book Day – dress up day and bring your favourite book to school. Year 5 will also need to bring a favourite story book to share with your buddy (see note about World Book day above).

10th - 14th March Science Week in school

11th March Blackpool Catholic Schools Shared Lenten Liturgy St Kentigen’s School 6pm

17th March 1pm to 5.30pm parent information afternoon in school hall – booking link to follow soon

26th March Key Stage 2 Blackpool Cross County competitive team event

March – June 2025 Year 5’s in school workshops with experienced drama/dance practitioners as part of the Tales Retold project

Thursday 15th May Year 5 trip to Grand Theatre to watch Pig-Heart Boy. Payment for the trip can be made on Parent Pay (this can be done in instalments if you wish). Thank you to those who have already paid in full.

A good week, Year 5, well done! Have a great weekend! 

Mrs McVey, Mrs Hodgkiss and Miss Andrew

If you need to contact me or have any questions/queries, please contact me on  year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”. (Luke 3:22)

In class we have been talking about the importance of reading and I’m really pleased that so many children are reading daily. As Doctor Seuss says, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Please can I ask that parents continue to encourage your child to read at home and sign their reading diary. More recently, we have noticed that some children are already not reading as regularly as they should and some children are not bringing their reading diaries to school everyday. This is such a shame and it really is having an impact on their quiz scores in school and the progress they are making. The children should be reading for at least 20 minutes a day at home. 📚 Thanks for your support in this.

Our award winners: 

Golden Award (CARE) - Matilda

Writing Award -  Martha

Maths Award - Laura

Our learning this week…

In English we have had a go at writing alliteration, describing things in a chosen illustration from the text and then the children have used this to create their own alliteration poems.

Our focus in maths has been square and cube numbers.

In RE the children have been working with Mrs Mannix

This week’s prayer and liturgy was planned and led by Natalie, Willow and Stephen. The theme of their liturgy was The Beloved Son. Their prayers were from the key verse in Sunday’s Gospel “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”. These prayers helped us to reflect on what it means that Jesus is the Beloved Son of God the Father, and invites us into a deeper relationship with God. The children had written a beautiful reflection and asked the children to undertake silent prayer and think about how they will become closer to God.

“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”. (Luke 3:22)

In computing we have begun to explore what a Micro:bit is and how it can be used.

In art the children have continued to look at the 3D work of Alberto Giacometti.

In Spanish we have begun to ask and answer questions about our families.

In PE the children are working with PE specialist Luke from Blackpool Football Club Community Trust. The focus of their lessons this half term is invasion games.

In our Bounce Forward session, we discussed feelings and emotions. We talked about the things that cause different emotions and feelings and reinforced that it’s okay to feel.... It’s how we cope with the emotion/feeling that matters.

Build your resilience

How many resilient moves can you make this week? 

Use the resilient framework to identify the ones you and your family make. Resilience Framework

This week’s resilient move challenges are:

  • Get enough sleep (Basics potion)

  • Be brave (Coping potion)

If you would like to share a photo of your child making a resilient move, then send them to our email year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will post them here each week. For example, a photo of a bike ride - the resilient move would be fresh air and exercise, which comes from the basic potion on the framework. Please note: if the photo has other children on it, please ensure you have consent to share it with me. 

The BEBCMAT Rock Stars Super League has a new competition, which started on Monday and runs till the 20th December. Good luck everyone!

Our school is currently in 3rd place out of 12 schools in the trust and we have scored 1122 points (school average score) so far.

This week’s Our Lady’s Top of the Rock’s Leaderboard:

1st Ava Year 4 15053

2nd Matilda Year 4 14534

3rd Harriet Year 6 12106

4th Matilda Year 3 7260

5th Leo Year 5   7139

Well done to everyone on our leaderboard this week!👏🏻

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters. 

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

What Parents & Educators Need to Know about TikTok. This free guide explores the potential online safety risks of TikTok, letting you know how to safeguard children and young people who use the platform.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all. Thank you.

To read this week’s Good News Gospel reading, please follow the link to share the Gospel at home with your family. These are really child-friendly resources to share at home. Good News Gospel

Please also have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worship…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

20th January Introduction to Tales Retold at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool. We will leave school at 12.15pm and leave the Theatre at 3.10pm so we will not be back at school until after the end of the school day. (I expect by 3.30pm.)

21st January Water Safety at swimming. The children will need to bring their swim kit and pyjamas they brought last week to finish off their water safety lesson..

3rd February Year 5 visit to Blackpool Grand Theatre’s Oracy Symposium

March – June 2025 Year 5’s in school workshops with experienced drama/dance practitioners as part of the Tales Retold project

Thursday 15th May Year 5 trip to Grand Theatre to watch Pig-Heart Boy Thursday 15th May

(Information about the above dates were sent by email last week.)

A good week, Year 5, well done! Have a great weekend! 

Mrs McVey, Mrs Hodgkiss and Miss Andrew

If you need to contact me or have any questions/queries, please contact me on  year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

Edina Trust Bulb project

This week we began our Edina Trust bulb project work. Year 5 will be monitoring the growth of the bulbs over the coming months and each day two children will go out to record the temperature and the rainfall to be uploaded to the Edina Trust’s website.

Our award winners: 

Golden Award (RESPECT) - Aibhin

Writing Award -  Leo

Maths Award -  Brooklyn

Our learning this week…

In English we’ve been writing in role, thinking about what the astronauts took with them to the moon and the activities they conducted whilst there. The children have also been learning to write in both the passive and active voice.

Our focus in maths has been dealing with patterns of numbers and addition of numbers with up to 6-digits.

In RE the children have been working with Mrs Mannix and learning about the covenants made with God

This week’s prayer and liturgy was planned and led by Matilda and Natalia. The theme of their liturgy was Here to Serve. In this Gospel, Mark 10:35-45, we learn that to be great in God’s sight, they must put others first, we learn that through Jesus’ service and self-sacrifice, He won for them the greatest prize – the joy of eternal life with Him in Heaven! The girls’ challenged the class to think about how they would put others first today.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

In science, the children have explored the life and work of Isaac Newton, thought about the influence gravity has on the universe and investigated the relationship between mass and gravity

In geography the children have been asking geographical questions that we would like to answer about our local area. Some of the questions have formed our questionnaires sent home this week. Thank you for sending those back by today. If you haven’t yet, please send back on Monday so we can use them during our geography lesson.

In art the children have worked in the negative to create a self portrait in response to the work of Frank Auerbach.

In PE the children are working with PE specialist Charlie from Blackpool Football Club Community Trust. The unit for this half term is dance.

The BEBCMAT Rock Stars Super League has a new competition, which started on Monday and runs till the 20th December. Good luck everyone!

Our school is currently in 2nd place out of 12 schools in the trust and we have scored 742 points (school average score) so far.

This week’s Our Lady’s Top of the Rock’s Leaderboard:

1st Natalia Year 5 9218

2nd Aibhin Year 5 7913

3rd Olivia Year 5 6946

4th Fionn Year 3 5038

5th Matilda Year 3   3822

Well done to everyone on our leaderboard this week!👏🏻🏆

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters. 

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

It has been brought to our attention by the Blackpool safeguarding team of an application called Kinemaster. It is similar to Youtube whereby pupils can upload videos and images but also has an editing facility.  Though there are no safeguarding concerns with the application directly, it is known that children have been using this to upload images of other children which are then free for people to use on the internet.  Please be aware of the potential for misusing this and continue to monitor your children's online activity. 

Monitoring tips and strategies for parents of young children (Ages 5-10)

  1. Keep children’s devices in shared spaces: Children should use the internet and social media in common areas, such as the living room, where parents can easily keep an eye on their activities. To that end, set family ground rules that prohibit device usage in bedrooms and bathrooms, which allow opportunities to engage in risky behaviors.

  2. Establish clear rules and communication: Set clear expectations about appropriate online behaviour, time limits, and the types of websites or apps they can access. Maintain open lines of communication, so your child feels comfortable discussing any concerns or encounters they may have had.

  3. Parental controls and filtering: Make use of the parental control settings available on devices, web browsers, games and apps to restrict access to inappropriate content. Install child-friendly search engines and age-appropriate apps that offer a safer online experience.

    Top Tips for Using & Reviewing Parental Controls. This free guide provides expert advice on how to effectively activate and maintain parental controls on children’s devices.

What Parents Need to Know about Sharing photos online. This free online safety guide explores sharing photos on social media – and what we should consider in avoiding possible harm.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all. Thank you.

To read this week’s Good News Gospel reading, please follow the link to share the Gospel at home with your family. These are really child-friendly resources to share at home. Good News Gospel

Please also have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worship…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

Monday 11th November - Remembrance day  Poppies will be on sale in school to support this special occasion. Children can bring in a voluntary contribution to support the Royal British Legion in preparation for this day. Thank you!

Friday 15th November KS2 Autumn disco. 6pm -7pm in school hall. Tickets available via parent pay at £2.50. Children to come in party clothes. Snack and drink included.

Friday 6th December Christmas Fair. 3.30pm -5.30pm. More details to follow on this.

Have a great weekend, Year 5!

Mrs McVey, Mrs Hodgkiss and Miss Andrew

If you need to contact me or have any questions/queries, please contact me on  year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.

Posted
AuthorKay McVey