What will I be when I grow up?
Great ambition from Year 5 today… It was so lovely to see a great variety of jobs that they want to do - doctor, vet, policeman, lawyer, singers, dancers, archaeologist, golfer, teacher, streamer, show person, gamer, footballers, fashion designers, rapper, dance teacher, cake baker, actor and engineer. You all looked great!
Safer Internet Day
On Tuesday, it was Safer Internet Day and in school we did some learning around the theme ‘Too good to be true? Protecting yourself and others from scams online‘.
We’ve looked at what the word Scam means and then did an activity which helped them to understand what a scam is, by looking at several examples, and the possible signs that something might be a scam. We’ve also looked at what ‘phishing’ is and how to spot it online.
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. Below are some links and safety guides which you may find useful:
UK Safer Internet Centre
Tips for Parents and Carers: Keeping you and your loved ones safe online https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2025/tips-for-parents-and-carers
PARENTAL CONTROLS: Protecting young people from inappropriate online content. https://saferinternet.org.uk/online-issue/parental-controls
Internet matters.org
See recommended online safety guides for parents:
https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/online-safety-guide-0-5-year-olds/ With so many websites and apps targeting pre-schoolers, find out the simple steps you can take to protect your young children.
https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/online-safety-guide-6-10-year-olds/ As internet use grows, learn about the steps you can make to establish positive behaviour and how you can teach your child to stay safe.
https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/online-safety-guide-11-13-year-olds/ As your child makes the important transition from primary to secondary school make sure your knowledge increases with theirs.
Activate parental controls with how-to guides https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/ Parental controls can be used to manage screen time, block inappropriate content, prevent accidental spending, and keep strangers away.
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 for your support.
Royal Shakespeare Company visit
Today, we were delighted to have the Royal Shakespeare company working with us this morning. Year 5 were treated to a morning of active approaches …
The children had an amazing time working with the three practitioners - a director, an actor and a representative from the RSC - sharing Shakespearian compliments, writing Odes to Blackpool and then building pictures of Blackpool using elements of Shakespeare’s play. The children were so engaged and showed just how creative, imaginative and expressive they all are - a proud two hours! Well done Year 5!
Edina plant project
Thank you for looking after your bulbs over the holidays! We are part of a science investigation led by the Edina project. Your child’s pot contains a daffodil bulb on one side (indicated by the letter d) and a crocus bulb (indicated by the letter c). Alongside temperature and rainfall that we have been measuring each day, when one of the bulbs flowers, we need to record the date it flowered and the height from the soil. The pot needs to be placed outside in the garden and checked on each day to see if it has flowered. Please do not water it.
If your flowers bloom, please record it and bring the information back to school when you return so we can upload it to the national database.
Daffodil Date flowered ___________________ Height (mm) ________
Crocus Date flowered ___________________ Height (mm) ________
Please bring your pot back after half term as the investigation will carry on for a few months.
If you weren’t able to take your pot over the holidays, please don’t worry - I will take all remaining pots home with me.
Thank you for your support in this.
Our award winners:
Golden Award (LEARN) - Leo
Writing Award - Jacob
Maths Award - Hallie-Jayne
Our Reading champions
Well done to our reading champions this half term, who all completed bookmarks for reading regularly at home. Let’s see if next half term we can see more reading champions. Don’t forget to keep up with your reading regularly and get your diaries signed.
Our learning this week…
In English the children planned and finished their first person narrative writing inspired by images from FArTHER by Grahame Baker-Smith.
In maths this week we’ve continued to calculate the area of shapes and comparing and estimating 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 Conleth and Eleena. The theme of their liturgy was Trust in the Lord The Gospel tells us that Simon Peter took a leap of faith when following Jesus’ instructions. Through personal prayer, the children had the opportunity to reflect on Simon Peter’s trust in Jesus.
Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” (Luke 5:10)
In Science the children have looked at the life cycles of mammals - placental, monotremes and marsupials - and have looked at their similarities and differences.
In computing the children have used the code from last week’s lesson to write their own code to turn their Microbit in to a pedometer..
In art the children have continued to work on their Alberto Giacometti inspired sculptures using modrock.
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 2056 points (school average score) so far.
This week’s Our Lady’s Top of the Rock’s Leaderboard:
1st Matilda Year 4 40527⭐️🏆 Champion 🏆⭐️
2nd Ava Year 4 34928
3rd Leo Year 5 13309
4th Harriet Year 6 13096
5th Matilda Year 3 13006
Well done to Matilda in Year 4, who is our Times Table Rock Star Champion this half term. 👏🏻🏆 A big well done to those on our leaderboard too! 👏🏻
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…
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.
Another great half term Year 5, well done! Hope you all have a wonderful half term break. See you all on the 25th February!
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.
