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…
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.
