Fourth week of Lent

Our learning this week…

In English the children have written short letters in role, from the point of view of either the Father or the Son from our text FArTHER, and have expressed emotion through their writing. The children have also been exploring modal verbs that express certainty and possibility.

In Maths the children have worked on recognising factors, multiples and prime numbers.

In RE the children learnt about St Josephine Bakhita and identified how she lived out the Beatitude “Blessed are the merciful”.

In Science we have looked at foetal development and the incredible changes that take place as a foetus grows. On Wednesday, we also had the school nurses in, who came to talk to the children about the changes in boys and girls during puberty.

In Geography the children have learnt about the water cycle and the importance of rivers in this process.

In Computing the children have made their own short stop motion video using salt dough characters.

In Spanish the children read a short passage and had to identify the meaning in English.

In Design Technology the children have begun to investigate how beam bridges can be made stronger by changing and redesigning the shape of the beam.

Please don’t forget our Lenten challenges…

Lent Reading Challenge📚

Well done to those who completed some of the books this week! Keep up the good work with the reading challenge Year 5! 🤩👏🏻

If you haven’t finished reading your first Lenten challenge book, please make sure that you have read it by the last week of this half term so that you can take part in our book club in the final week.

CAFOD “Walk against hunger”

Thank you to those of you who have already sent in your completed sponsorship forms for our Lenten sponsored “Walk against hunger” for CAFOD. Sponsor money can now be paid through the Parent Pay link you were sent this week to set up your account - if you have any problems with this, please contact the school office. Please note you are sponsoring your child for the WHOLE challenge, not each individual, daily walk! Year 5 will complete their walk during the final week of half term before Easter. By joining together we can all help stamp out hunger one step at a time. Thank you for your support.

Sponsorship Form

Parents Letter

Year 5 Barnardo’s collection

It would be lovely if Year 5 could each bring in an item of clothing that we can then donate to Barnardo’s charity. Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. Thomas Barnardo is mentioned in our Lent book “Street Child” and although the story itself is fictional, the character in the story, Jim Jarvis, is based off a real Victorian boy who met Barnardo and was helped by his charity. Donations can be sent in from Monday 27th March and these will be taken to Barnardo’s on Cherry Tree Road at the end of this half term. Together we can make a difference.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Charlotte

Maths - Joseph

Writing - Riley

Star Award -

Resilient moves…

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

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Get enough sleep (Basics)

• Develop life skills (Learning)

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

Lenten reflections

Throughout Lent, children and families can join us in the school hall for a short Lenten reflection led by Father Frank. This will be held once every week at 8:30am and will continue until Tuesday 28th March. We do hope you can join us for this opportunity to gather as a faith community to reflect on the true value and meaning of Lent. ⛪️

Hope you all have a lovely weekend with your families Year 5.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

Our award winners...

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Lexi Rose

Maths - Year 5 Awarded for their work on teaching part part whole models to their buddies this week.

Writing - Isabella

CAFOD “Walk against hunger”

Thank you to those of you who have already sent in your completed sponsorship forms for our Lenten sponsored “Walk against hunger” for CAFOD. Sponsor money can now be paid through the Parent Pay link you were sent this week to set up your account - if you have any problems with this, please contact the school office. Please note you are sponsoring your child for the WHOLE challenge, not each individual, daily walk! Year 5 will complete their walk during the final week of half term before Easter. By joining together we can all help stamp out hunger one step at a time. Thank you for your support.

Sponsorship Form

Parents Letter

Hope you all have a lovely weekend Year 5.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

Our week...

It snowed…

On Monday, Year 5 were filmed during their Tales Retold workshop. The Grand Theatre filmed all aspects of the workshop and then filmed their performance of their resilient story, Bobby Big Boots. Some of the children were also filmed sharing their thoughts about the project and their improved resilience.

Some children in Year 5 also took part in the Sandgrown Shakespeare festival this week alongside other schools in our Associate Schools hub at the Grand Theatre. The children were amazing and we are so proud of their performance. Well done! 👏🏻🤩

Bikeability

Unfortunately due to the weather, the Bikeability programme had to stop mid-morning yesterday. I know the children were very disappointed but it became dangerous for the children to carry on. I have been in touch with the organisers and I wait for confirmation of new dates. I will let you know in due course. Well done to all our riders for working so hard through the bitter cold, the snow and rain and for showing great resilience when it was cancelled.

Our learning this week…

In English we began our new writing unit on recounts: to write a letter about a significant event in the story.

In Maths the children have used data to draw line graphs.

In Science we have looked at the life cycle of humans and have compared to other mammals. The children have identified the different stages during the life cycle and we will look at these stages in greater depth over this half term.

In History the children have explored different types of government in ancient Greece and have considered their advantages and disadvantages. We also compared democracy in ancient Greece

In Computing we looked at 19th Century animations and the children had a go at making their own - Zoetropes, Thaumatropes and flip books.

PE - The children used their resilience to play games in teams.

Lent Reading Challenge📚

Well done to those who completed some of the books this week! Keep up the good work with the reading challenge Year 5! 🤩👏🏻

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Bobby

Maths - Oscar O’C

Writing - William

Star Award -

Resilient moves…

Thank you to Emma and Oscar who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Fresh air and exercise (Basics)

• Spend time with good people in good places (Belonging)

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

Lenten reflections

Throughout Lent, children and families can join us in the school hall for a short Lenten reflection led by Father Frank. This will be held once every week at 8:30am and will continue until Tuesday 28th March. We do hope you can join us for this opportunity to gather as a faith community to reflect on the true value and meaning of Lent. ⛪️

CAFOD “Walk against hunger”

Thank you to those of you who have already sent in your completed sponsorship forms for our Lenten sponsored “Walk against hunger” for CAFOD. Sponsor money can now be paid through the Parent Pay link you were sent this week to set up your account - if you have any problems with this, please contact the school office. Please note you are sponsoring your child for the WHOLE challenge, not each individual, daily walk! Year 5 will complete their walk during the final week of half term before Easter. By joining together we can all help stamp out hunger one step at a time. Thank you for your support.

Sponsorship Form

Parents Letter

For your information…

Please follow this link for details of the Being a Parent groups running next term.  There will be two 9 week groups starting on Tuesday 25th April

10.00am-12.00pm      The HealthWorks, 1 Clifton Street, FY1 1JD

6.00pm-8.00pm          Online using Google Meet.

The group is suitable for parents of children aged 18 months – 11 years (priority is given to parents with children under 4 years) and is led by parents.  It looks at communication, behaviour management and listening techniques.  The group is free and childcare can be paid for to attend the group.

Parents can book their place by contacting Blackpool Learning Rooms on 01253 478131 or learning.rooms@blackpool.gov.uk .

Hope you all have a lovely weekend Year 5.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

World Book Day & more...

CAFOD - Sponsored Walk Against Hunger

In addition to the Lenten challenges that Year 5 have already challenged themselves to do, the whole school are also looking to fundraise for CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development) in its campaign to ‘Walk Against Hunger’. Our school community will join thousands of others to help fight extreme poverty and we will make it our own ‘Pilgrimage’ during Lent knowing that each little step we take will make a BIG difference. Each class will set its own Lenten walking target and in Year 5 we have chosen to do our walk during the last week of half term by walking around the school grounds each day during one of our playtimes.

School are asking parents/families to sponsor their child to undertake their special walk and we are asking parents to send in the donations through PARENT PAY (by the end of this term, 6th April) and NOT send the money into school with your child. Please follow the PARENT PAY link you will be sent to set up your account - if you have any problems with this, please contact the school office. Please note you are sponsoring your child for the WHOLE challenge, not each individual, daily walk! By joining together we can all help stamp out hunger one step at a time. Thank you for your support.

Sponsorship Form - in case your doesn’t make it home!

Parents Letter

Our learning this week…

We’ve had a busy week this week. Monday we had our Tales Retold workshop, where the children practised their resilient story that they came up with (Bobby Big Boots) and performed it to our visitor from The Grand Theatre. Next Monday, the Grand Theatre will be sending someone into school to video the children’s work for a special video about the project. At some point the Grand Theatre will share this with us so that you can all watch it too. Later in the year, the children will then go to the Grand to perform another resilient story and they hope to make this a performance that parents can come and watch.

On Wednesday, Year 5 were delighted to have the Life Education workshop once again and welcome Harold (puppet giraffe) back to school - they met him when they are younger and still delight in seeing him again . The workshop was on the theme of looking after our mental health, as well as physical health – and the connection between the two – was further explored, using the Wellbeing Wheel. They also considered how to ensure that online behaviour is healthy and balanced. Using interactive resources they explored how their body systems work together to keep them alive. Through role-play, the children explored the influence of friends on decision making. They identified and practised assertiveness skills.

Yesterday we celebrated World Book Day. Thanks for supporting us with this event - the children all looked great dressed up in the costume of their favourite book characters. The children were given the opportunity to share their book with the whole class and they wrote book reviews to place in our book corner. 📚

In English the children have finished writing their first-person setting narrative of an illustration from the book The FArTHER. Year 5 have worked so hard on this writing and I’ve been impressed with the use of figurative language the children have used. Please ask them to share some of this language with you.

In Maths the children have continued to use and interpret line graphs and have had a go at plotting their own line graphs too.

In Science we have compared the life cycles of birds and reptiles. The children have identified the parts of an egg and the function of each part in the development of an embryo in a fertilised egg.

In History the children have worked as historians to gather evidence about everyday life in Ancient Athens from pottery that remains.

PE - The children worked with sport coaches Elise and Katie on games which encourage them to work as a team and use their resilience.

Lent Reading Challenge📚

I’m delighted with the children’s response to the reading challenge so far. Each day this week, we’ve had children coming in having read their book and have requested to move on to their next book. This is amazing Year 5, keep it up! Please continue to encourage your child to read their chosen book to enable them to enjoy our book club at the end of term.

Well done to those who have already completed some of the books!🤩👏🏻

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Amelia

Maths - Oscar Op.

Writing - Ayson

Star Award -

Resilient moves…

Thank you to Jacob who has shared his resilient move this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Play and hobbies (Basics)

• Plan out your future (Learning)

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

Dates for your diary…

Shakespeare performance

On Tuesday, our Shakespeare club, including a small number of Year 5 children, will be performing a scene from The Tempest at the Grand Theatre. I’ve been lucky to see them during their rehearsal time and parents you’ll be in for a real treat. If Year 5 would like to watch their peers perform, tickets can be bought directly from the Grand Theatre. Good luck to all our actors - break a leg! 🎭

Bikeability

Next week, Thursday 9th and Friday 10th March, some of Year 5 will take part in the Bikeability training scheme. Please see the letter sent home this week regarding arrangements. The children’s bikes will need to be brought in on Thursday morning and then again on Friday if your child has successfully passed level 1. Please note, the Bikeability team make all decisions on who proceeds to the second part of the course and this will be based on behaviour and those who are able to confidently control their bike safely on the road. Riders should wear their school PE kit and bring an appropriate coat in the event of cold weather/rain as they will spend long periods of time outside. Children may also bring in gloves to keep their hands warm. Good luck riders! 🚲

Lenten reflections

Throughout Lent we would like to invite all children and families to join us in the school hall for a short Lenten reflection led by Father Frank. This will be held once every week at 8:30am and will begin from Tuesday 7th March, continuing until Tuesday 28th March. We do hope you can join us for this opportunity to gather as a faith community to reflect on the true value and meaning of Lent. ⛪️

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24

Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent and Year 5, along with the rest of school, went over to mass in church and received their ashes. 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. 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 is and which Beatitude they have chosen to live out during Lent.

We have also decided to make some whole class promises too…

Year 5 will be collecting donations towards the end of Lent. I will let you know when the children can bring their contribution in. We hope that you will be able to support us in this.

Lent Reading Challenge

We have also decided as a class to take on a class reading challenge for Lent. By the end of term, we - Year 5, Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs McCooey - 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!).

Our learning this week…

In English the children have been writing their first-person setting narrative of an illustration from the book The FArTHER.

In Maths the children have been using and interpreting line graphs.

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

In History the children have compared ancient Greek city states Athens and Sparta and have begun to prepare for a debate.

HRSE - The children have been discussing how to make good choices that have an impact on their health : rest and sleep, exercise, personal hygiene, avoiding the overuse of electronic equipment.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Joseph

Maths - Ola

Writing - Avie

Star Award -

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Have a laugh (Coping)

• Organise yourself (Learning)

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

Dates for your diary…

World Book Day - Thursday 2nd March.

To celebrate World Book Day we will be asking children to come to school dressed as their favourite book character on this day. If you can, bring the book with you and be prepared to talk about why you love this character and the book. Parents, please don’t feel under pressure to buy expensive costumes - the best ones are always the home-made ones. We are excited to see what each of the children will be!!

Life Education Bus

On Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd March the Life Education Centre will visit school with Harold the Giraffe to deliver a session to each of the classes on staying healthy - in both body and mind. Year 5’s day is WEDNESDAY 1st MARCH.

The children will have a session in class that day on friends.

There will be Parent Session on THURSDAY 2nd MARCH in the hall at 8.55-9.10am so if you have 15 mins once you drop your child off, feel free to pop in!

Lenten reflections

Throughout Lent we would like to invite all children and families to join us in the school hall for a short Lenten reflection led by Father Frank. This will be held once every week at 8:30am and will begin from Tuesday 7th March, continuing until Tuesday 28th March. We do hope you can join us for this opportunity to gather as a faith community to reflect on the true value and meaning of Lent.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

Resilience is the ability to bounce forward during tough times

We had a lovely end to this half term. Yesterday, the children had a fantastic time at Ascent and made us all proud of how well behaved they were and how they showed great resilience. Well done Year 5! Thank you all so much for sending in the children’s Ascent socks.

On Tuesday we celebrated Safer Internet Day. This year’s theme was Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations online. It gave the children the opportunity to think about their own online activity, which online activity matters to them most and think about how the online issues they had discussed can make people feel and how their bodies might react. After doing this, they explored the importance of talking to someone and how this can help.

To support online safety at home, here is this year’s Safer Internet day newsletter.

Our Reading Champions…

Well done to our reading champions this half term who all completed bookmarks for reading regularly at home.

When the children read regularly, golden tickets are given out and then we do a draw at the end of each half term. Well done to Hallie, who is our golden ticket winner and has won a prize for her great home reading this half term.🤩👏🏻

Please can you encourage your child to read at home and sign their reading diary. I’ve noticed that many children are not reading as regularly as they should and and this is having an impact on the progress they are making and their quiz scores in school. Next year, the children will need to sit the SATS reading paper and in order to prepare for this, the children need to be reading as much as they can. They should be reading for at least 20 minutes a day at home. To improve this, we will continue to check reading diaries weekly and they will receive house points and Golden tickets for reading and taking quizzes. Get reading Year 5! 📚

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Poppy

Maths - Ruby

Writing - Jacob

Star Award -

Bedrock Competition

Well done to all of Year 5 who achieved 140 points or more on Bedrock over this last half term. I wish you all luck for the Bedrock prize draw! A big congratulations goes to our Bedrock Champion, Charlotte,  and well done to all the other children on our TOP 5 scoreboard. Well done!

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Charlotte Gilheaney 308 points

2 Lexi Rose McGow 265 points

3 Ola Marzec 232 points

4 Joseph Flanagan 225 points

5 Emma Burgess 207 points

Resilient moves…

What resilient moves will you make over half term? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Exercise and fresh air (Basics)

• Play and hobbies (Basics)

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

Hope you all have a lovely half term.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

Our week...

Our learning this week…

In Tales Retold the children worked as a group to focus on building images of one of the resilient stories that was created the week before. We were delighted with how the children worked together this week. Well done Year 5!

In English we explored a model of a first person setting narrative and identified the features of the text.

In Maths the children extracted information from tables to solve a range of problems involving four operations.

In RE the children looked at the Beatitudes, which can be found in Matthew, and have discussed their meaning. The children were then challenged to think about how they have lived out the Beatitudes this week.

In History the children have been using sources of evidence to decide whether there is any truth in the myth Theseus and the Minotaur.

In computing the children have decomposed a program on the micro-bit to work out the algorithms. The children were then challenged to program the micro-bit to function like a scoreboard to record the results of a game of ‘Rock, paper, scissors’.

In art the children have applied modroc to their 3D sculptures.

Our fourth group of Year 5’s had their baking lesson with our school cook to build life skills as part of their resilience building. Great job! 😋

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Zak

Maths - Hallie

Writing - Isabella

Star Award -

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock’s competition, which started on the 2nd January, will run till the 12th February. The children will need to complete their Bedrock lessons to earn 120 points, by this date, for a chance to win fantastic prizes. We will also continue our own in class competition. Please be reminded that children should only complete ONE Bedrock lesson a day at home. In order to ensure vocabulary retention, it is recommended that only one lesson a day should be completed.

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Charlotte Gilheaney 258 points

2 Lexi Rose McGow 236 points

3 Ola Marzec 222 points

4 Joseph Flanagan 194 points

5 Emma Burgess 183 points

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Eat a healthy balanced diet (Basics)

• Find your place in the world (Belonging)

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

Next week…

On Thursday afternoon, we have our trip to Ascent to support the development of the children’s resilience and team building. If your child has Ascent socks already, please send the socks into school labelled with their name - this will allow us to keep the costs of our trip down. Thanks for your support.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

"Love one another as I have loved you"

Yesterday Year 5 went over for our class mass at church with Father Frank. He talked about how Jesus taught us to "Love one another as I have loved you". Father reminded the children that this is what we should do to be a good friend. Well done to the children who read in church, they read so beautifully and clearly. We were very proud of how they all behaved so well and so respectfully.

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 encourage the children to read at home and sign their reading diary. I’ve noticed that quite a few children are not reading as regularly as they should and some children rarely bring their reading diaries to school. This is such a shame and this is having an impact on the progress they are making and their quiz scores in school. The children should be reading for at least 20 minutes a day at home. To improve this, we will continue to check reading diaries weekly and they will receive house points and Golden tickets for reading and taking quizzes. By earning house points for reading, this will support the children in getting enough house points each week in order to be included in our weekly prize draw on a Friday and will increase the number of Golden tickets they receive. (The Golden ticket draw will take place at the end of half term when we celebrate our reading champions.) Get reading Year 5! 📚

Our learning this week…

In Tales Retold the children worked in groups to focus on building their own resilient story .

In English the children have been identifying the features of a model setting and describing images using personification.

In Maths the children have continued to solve one-step and two-step problems involving addition and subtraction.

In RE the children have been thinking about what it is to be a disciple of Christ and have been thinking about how they will actively help Jesus in his mission.

In Science we have learnt been looking at the life cycle of mammals and have compared the cycles of three different types of mammals: placental, monotreme and marsupial.

In History the children have been using sources of evidence to decide whether there is any truth in the myth Theseus and the Minotaur.

In computing the children have used what they have learnt already to reason what an existing program does.

In our PE session, Year 5 worked together as part of a team in groups of five to play a volley ball style game.

In art the children have continued to make their 3D sculptures in the style of Alberto Giacometti.

Our third group of Year 5’s had their baking lesson with our school cook to build life skills as part of their resilience building. Great job! 😋

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Charlotte

Maths - Elsie

Writing - Lexi Rose

Star Award - Lexi Rose and Ayson

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock’s competition, which started on the 2nd January, will run till the 12th February. The children will need to complete their Bedrock lessons to earn 120 points, by this date, for a chance to win fantastic prizes. We will also continue our own in class competition. Please be reminded that children should only complete ONE Bedrock lesson a day at home. In order to ensure vocabulary retention, it is recommended that only one lesson a day should be completed.

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Charlotte Gilheaney 197 points

2 Lexi Rose McGow 188 points

3 Ola Marzec 184 points

4 Joseph Flanagan 166 points

5 Emma Burgess 143 points

Resilient moves…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Eat a healthy balanced diet (Basics)

• Find your place in the world (Belonging)

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

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

“Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.”

Our learning this week…

This week the children restarted their Tales Retold workshops, which embeds story-led resilience. The children really enjoyed the games and actively took part in the activities, which involved looking at the resilient framework.

In English the children have been describing images from the story “FArTHER” using alliteration. They have then put these together into phrases and sentences to write an alliteration poem.

In Maths the children have focused on using the inverse to investigate fact families and to check calculations. They have also been solving one-step and two-step problems involving addition and subtraction.

In RE the children have considered how Saint Damien lived out Jesus’ commandment ‘love one another’ using the descriptions mentioned in St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.

In Science we have learnt how some plants reproduce asexually.

In History we have learnt about the different periods of time in Ancient Greece and have put significant events in chronological order.

In computing the children have used what they have learnt already to reason what an existing program does.

In our PE session this term Year 5 will be working alongside the Year 5 staff and Sport’s coach Erin to build their resilience through games.

In art the children have begun making their 3D sculptures in the style of Alberto Giacometti.

Our second group of Year 5’s had their baking lesson with our school cook to build life skills as part of their resilience building. Great job! 😋

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Lexi Rose

Maths - Riley

Writing - Emma

Star Award -

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock have announced a brand new competition, which started on the 2nd January and will run till the 12th February. The children will need to complete their Bedrock lessons to earn 120 points, by this date, for a chance to win fantastic prizes . We will also continue our own in class competition. Please be reminded that children should only complete ONE Bedrock lesson a day at home. In order to ensure vocabulary retention, it is recommended that only one lesson a day should be completed. It was great to see so many children rise to the challenge last term and I admire their enthusiasm, however, to ensure fair competition amongst the class, please ensure your child only completes one lesson a day at home. Thanks for your cooperation.

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Joseph Flanagan 156 points

2 Lexi Rose McGow 152 points

3 Charlotte Gilheaney 148 points

4 Ola Marzec 118 points

5 Oscar O’Connell 112 points

Resilient moves…

Thank you to Bobby who has shared his resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Get some exercise and fresh air (Basics)

• Make friends and mix with other people (Belonging)
  

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 newsletter gives helpful advice about…

• the online game Minecraft, a game that remains popular amongst children,

• how to set up parental controls on your WIFI/broadband - most providers include these for free as part of your broadband package.

• WhatsApp, a free messaging app that allows you to send messages, voice notes, photos and videos. You must be at least 16 years old to register for and use WhatsApp; however, we are aware in school that many of our older children use this app and so the guide will give helpful advice about its features.

• and links to further information regarding online safety.

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

Online Safety Newsletter January 2023

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

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

“Love is always patient and kind..." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Our learning this week…

In English the children have investigated the meaning of unfamiliar words in the story FArTHER and we have begun looking at a model of a great example of a first-person setting narrative.

In Maths the children have focused on using mental methods for addition and subtraction.

In RE we have explored what Jesus meant by love, using St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.

In Science we have learnt how flowering plants reproduce and have dissected a tulip into the different parts of the flower.

In History we began our Ancient Greeks topic. The children looked at the geography of Greece and the consequences of this for the Ancient Greeks.

In computing the children have designed and coded their own animation onto a micro:bit.

In our PE session this term Year 5 will be working alongside the Year 5 staff and Sport’s coach Erin to build their resilience through games.

In art the children have finalised their drawings in the style of Alberto Giacometti in preparation to make their own sculptures.

Yesterday, the first group of Year 5’s had their baking lesson with our school cook to build some life skills as part of their resilience building. Great job!

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Amy

Maths - Avie

Writing - Oscar

Star Award -

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Get enough sleep (Basics)

• Understand right from wrong (Coping)

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 newsletter gives helpful advice about…

• the online game Minecraft, a game that remains popular amongst children,

• how to set up parental controls on your WIFI/broadband - most providers include these for free as part of your broadband package.

• WhatsApp, a free messaging app that allows you to send messages, voice notes, photos and videos. You must be at least 16 years old to register for and use WhatsApp; however, we are aware in school that many of our older children use this app and so the guide will give helpful advice about its features.

• and links to further information regarding online safety.

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

Online Safety Newsletter January 2023

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

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

Epiphany "We saw his star in the East and have come to worship him." Matthew 2:2

Welcome back and a very happy new year! We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and wish you all a great new year.

Today we celebrated Epiphany by going to church for whole school mass. Epiphany is celebrated 12 days after Christmas on the 6th January and is the time when Christians remember the Wise Men who visited Jesus in Bethlehem after his birth.

Our learning this week…

In English we have begun to explore the story FArTHER, which we will use to support our development of writing a first-person setting narrative. This week the children have considered different pieces of evidence from the text to write a prediction and in small groups they have made mood palettes to describe different illustrations from the book.

In Maths the children have focused on using rounding and estimating to help check their calculations.

In RE the children have reflected on the message from the Prophets including Hosea. They’ve also finished off their unit on Covenants, looking at the New Covenant and the new Commandment that Jesus taught us. 

In Science we have explored gears, levers and pulleys and have investigated how these mechanisms can allow a smaller force to have a greater effect.

In computing the children have had fun this week learning about a device called a Micro:bit and they explored the blocks within the code editor.

In our PE session this term Year 5 will be working alongside the Year 5 staff and Sport’s coach Erin to build their resilience through games.

In art the children have begun to look at the 3D work of Alberto Giacometti and have had a go at drawing figures inspired by his sculptures.

Our award winners:

These will be given out next week during our celebration assembly.

Golden Award -

Maths - Bobby

Writing - Amelia

Star Award - Mickey

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

• Healthy diet (Basics)

• Focus on the good things in life (Coping)

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

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 newsletter gives helpful advice about…

• the online game Minecraft, a game that remains popular amongst children,

• how to set up parental controls on your WIFI/broadband - most providers include these for free as part of your broadband package.

• WhatsApp, a free messaging app that allows you to send messages, voice notes, photos and videos. You must be at least 16 years old to register for and use WhatsApp; however, we are aware in school that many of our older children use this app and so the guide will give helpful advice about its features.

• and links to further information regarding online safety.

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

Online Safety Newsletter January 2023

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

Baking lessons for Year 5!

Starting next week, each week a small group of children will work with our school cook to do some baking in the school kitchen. 😋 It’s going to be a great opportunity to build some life skills as part of their resilience building.

Just a reminder that swimming will resume on Tuesday.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

Happy Christmas!

Great Team Work

The children were challenged to make moon buggies to end our term - I am pleased with how hard they worked, working in their teams supporting each other and with good cooperation and collaboration. Have a look at what they did…

Our award winners:

Golden Award -  Avie

Writing Award - Charlotte

Maths Award -  Emma

Year 5 Star Winner -

Bedrock Competition

Well done to all of Year 5 who achieved 140 points or more on Bedrock over this last half term. I wish you all luck for the Bedrock prize draw! A big congratulations goes to our Bedrock Champion, Jacob,  and well done to all the other children on our TOP 5 scoreboard. Well done!

Here is our TOP 5 winners on the scoreboard:

1 Jacob 532 points ⭐️Bedrock Champion ⭐️

2 Ola 528 points

3 Mickey 519 points

4 Charlotte 357 points

5 Joseph 325 points

Our Reading Champions…

Well done to our reading champions this half term who all completed bookmarks for reading regularly at home.

When the children read regularly, golden tickets are given out and then we do a draw at the end of each half term. Well done to Charlotte, who is our golden ticket winner and has won a prize for her great home reading this half term.🤩👏🏻

Resilient moves…

Thank you to Isabella who shared her resilient move this week. 

The resilient moves challenges for the Christmas holiday are:

• Get together with people you rely on (Belonging)

• Develop life skills (Learning)

Please email me any photos of resilient moves you make over the Christmas holidays (for the two above or any others!). We look forward to seeing them and sharing them in the new year.

School swimming

A reminder that school swimming will resume after Christmas on the 10th January so there will be no swimming on the 3rd of January when we return to school in the New Year.

Thank you!

Thank you to those families who were able to join us for our KS2 Carol Service on Monday, we hope you enjoyed it. Also a big thank you for supporting our PTA today - the children all looked great in their Christmas jumpers and Christmas accessories!

We wish you all a wonderful happy and Holy Christmas 🎄and we hope you all stay safe and well and have a great start to the New Year. See you all in the new year!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

Fourth Sunday of Advent

This Sunday will mark the fourth week of Advent. We light the final purple candle to mark the final week of prayer and penance as we wait for the birth of our Saviour. The 4th Sunday of Advent symbolises Peace with the “Angel’s Candle” reminding us of the message of the angels: “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.”

Advent liturgies

Tuesday will be the last Advent liturgy led by Father Frank and we would like to invite all children and families to join us in the school hall. This will be held on Tuesday morning at 8:20am .

We do hope you can join us for this opportunity to gather as a faith community to reflect on the true value and meaning of Advent.

Our learning this week…

In English the children have worked really hard to finish writing their own exploration narratives.

In Maths the children have continued to use the written method of column subtraction to subtract whole numbers with more than 4 digits.

In PE the children performed their space-themed dance. They all worked together as a team to come together to perform one dance that was made up of individual, partner and group choreographed dances.

In music the children have practised singing carols for our KS2 advent service on Monday. We hope you will be able to join us on Monday.

In Design and Technology the children worked on one of three challenges in preparation for a group project next week. Take a look at the work they did…

Our award winners:

These will be given out next week during our celebration assembly.

Golden Award -

Maths -

Writing -

Star Award -

Resilient moves…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Spend time with good people in good places (Belonging)

• Be brave (Coping)

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock’s competition will run till the 18th December. The children will need to complete their Bedrock lessons to earn 140 points, by this date, for a chance to win fantastic prizes (points will be checked starting 31/10/22). We will also continue our own in class competition - winner announced on Tuesday.

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Ola 528 points

2 Jacob 522 points

3 Mickey 519 points

4 Joseph 294 points

5 Charlotte 293 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board 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.

With Christmas nearly here and perhaps with presents including new technology or related games being received, we thought we’d share some helpful advice in setting up appropriate parental controls. Parental controls can help to protect your child from seeing something that they shouldn’t – although it is important to emphasise that no system is effective all of the time so it is important to engage with your child and talk to them about their online life regularly.

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

Online Safety Newsletter December 2022

KS2 Advent Service

On Monday 19th December at 2pm, KS2 will be taking part in an Advent Service in Church. All families are invited to join us as we sing some traditional carols and listen to the Nativity story.

Own clothes day

Our Lady's PTA would like to invite all children to come to school on our last day of term - Tuesday 20th December in their Christmas clothes.

Children are welcome to wear their own clothes and include anything Christmassy they would like - for example Christmas jumper, Christmas dress, party dress or Christmas accessories.

Please don't buy anything special for the day, you can always be creative with decorations and tinsel at home to create your own accessory to wear with your own clothes!

There will be a £1 donation set up in Parentpay to raise money for PTA funds.

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/half-term-holiday-special?pid=MTA101634&v=72.4

School swimming

Tuesday was the last swimming session for Year 5 before Christmas and the children took part in a game of Water Polo. School swimming will resume after Christmas on the 10th January so there will be no swimming on the 3rd of January when we return to school in the New Year.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

Third Sunday of Advent

The Third Sunday of Advent symbolises Joy with the “Shepherd’s Candle” reminding us of the Joy the world experienced at the coming birth of Jesus. The third Sunday of Advent we are invited to reflect on the joy we have access to because of our faith in Jesus. One of the defining characteristics of Christ-followers is their joyful demeanor. Let’s not allow the struggles of this year steal from the great joy we have because of Jesus.

Advent liturgies

Throughout Advent we would like to invite all children and families to join us in the school hall for a short Advent liturgy led by Father Frank.

This will be held every Tuesday morning at 8:20am until Tuesday 20th December 2022.

We do hope you can join us for this opportunity to gather as a faith community to reflect on the true value and meaning of Advent. Thank you to those families who joined us last week.

Our learning this week…

In English the children have finished planning their own exploration narratives and have begun writing their own exploration narrative.

In Maths the children have used the written method of column subtraction to subtract whole numbers with more than 4 digits.

In RE the children have learnt about Moses and the Ten Commandments.

In computing the children have been learning to use a new 3D design software package called TinkerCAD ready to design new tyres for a Mars Rover.

In PE they’ve continued to work on and develop their space-themed dance.

In music the children have practised singing carols for our KS2 advent service later this month.

During our Bounce Forward session we continued to look at the basics potion on the resilience framework and the children identified three different ways that they can challenge themselves to be more resilient. Take a look at the resilient framework here.

We started our Design and Technology work this week. The children were set a challenge to make a simple chassis using just card, dowling, 4 wheels and masking tape. They also recapped their learning on building electrical circuits in preparation for a project next week. Take a look at their efforts…

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Ayson

Maths - Chase

Writing - Zak

Star Award - Mickey

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Try to start fresh each day and remember tomorrow is another day (Coping)

• Spend time playing and making time for hobbies (Basics)

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock’s competition will run till the 18th December. The children will need to complete their Bedrock lessons to earn 140 points, by this date, for a chance to win fantastic prizes (points will be checked starting 31/10/22). We will also continue our own in class competition.

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Mickey 514 points

1 Ola 511 points

3 Jacob 431 points

4 Hallie 254 points

5 Charlotte 245 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board 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.

With Christmas nearly here and perhaps with presents including new technology or related games being received, we thought we’d share some helpful advice in setting up appropriate parental controls. Parental controls can help to protect your child from seeing something that they shouldn’t – although it is important to emphasise that no system is effective all of the time so it is important to engage with your child and talk to them about their online life regularly.

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

Online Safety Newsletter December 2022

KS2 Advent Service

On Monday 19th December at 2pm, KS2 will be taking part in an Advent Service in Church. All families are invited to join us as we sing some traditional carols and listen to the Nativity story.

Own clothes day

Our Lady's PTA would like to invite all children to come to school on our last day of term - Tuesday 20th December in their Christmas clothes.

Children are welcome to wear their own clothes and include anything Christmassy they would like - for example Christmas jumper, Christmas dress, party dress or Christmas accessories.

Please don't buy anything special for the day, you can always be creative with decorations and tinsel at home to create your own accessory to wear with your own clothes!

There will be a £1 donation set up in Parentpay to raise money for PTA funds.

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/half-term-holiday-special?pid=MTA101634&v=72.4

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

Second Sunday of Advent

This Sunday marks the second Sunday of Advent. The second Sunday of Advent symbolises Faith with the “Bethlehem Candle” reminding us of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem. There is comfort to be found when we pause to read, pray, and reflect over the course of the Advent season...a time when believers eagerly anticipate the celebration of Christ’s birth. The second Sunday of Advent gives us the opportunity to prepare our hearts in faithful waiting, celebrate the birth of Jesus, and ready ourselves for his second coming. It's a beautiful chance to reflect on the ways prophecy has been fulfilled and to ponder what the future (promised to us through prophecies) will bring.

Advent liturgies

Throughout Advent we would like to invite all children and families to join us in the school hall for a short Advent liturgy led by Father Frank.

This will be held every Tuesday morning at 8:20am until Tuesday 20th December 2022.

We do hope you can join us for this opportunity to gather as a faith community to reflect on the true value and meaning of Advent. Thank you to those families who joined us last week.

Our learning this week…

In English the children have been planning their own exploration narratives in preparation for their writing.

In Maths the children have used the written method of column addition to add whole numbers with more than 4 digits.

In RE the children have learnt that God guides and challenges His people and that we have a need to grow in faith and trust in God.

In Science the children have investigated how different surfaces are affected by friction.

In computing the children have been learning how the Mars Rover receives instructions, which is how all computers operate - using the Fetch, Decode and Execute cycle.

In PE they’ve continued to work on and develop their space-themed dance. This week the children also had the opportunity to watch each others performance and feedback to each other.

In music the children have practised singing carols for our KS2 advent service later this month.

In Spanish the children have been learning the names of more vegetables and have practised their pronunciation.

In Bounce Forward this week, we discussed the Basics potion on the resilience framework (click on link to see the framework). We considered which of the ‘ingredients’ we can take responsibility for and we then focused in on getting enough sleep and thought about what helps us get to sleep and what prevents us getting to sleep at night. Year 5 all agreed that when they don’t get enough sleep, it makes them less resilient and they aren’t as happy. It is recommended that children of their age should be getting between 9 and 10 hours sleep at night.

Resilient Moves Challenge

In Bounce Forward we also made a resilient moves box and the children wrote down some challenges to go in the box. Each week we will pick some out  to challenge the children to create some resilient moves during the week. Every Bounce Forward session we always start the lesson by sharing the resilient moves that we have made over the course of the week and identifying which of the potions they come from on the resilient framework.

This week’s resilient move challenges are:

• Spend time with good people and in good places (Belonging potion)

• Make time to understand other people’s feelings (Core self potion)

Build your resilience…

How many resilient moves can you make this week? 

If you would like to share photos 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 also has other children (not from Year 5), please seek permission from their parents before you send them to me. Thank you for your support.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Charlotte

Maths - Riley

Writing - Ola

Star Award - Joshua

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock’s competition will run till the 18th December. The children will need to complete their Bedrock lessons to earn 140 points, by this date, for a chance to win fantastic prizes (points will be checked starting 31/10/22). We will also continue our own in class competition.

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Mickey 476 points

1 Ola 451 points

3 Jacob 369 points

4 Charlotte 245 points

5 Joseph 217 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/half-term-holiday-special?pid=MTA101634&v=72.4

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

"Advent is a journey towards Bethlehem. May we let ourselves be drawn by the light of God made man." Pope Francis

This Sunday will mark the first Sunday in Advent, which symbolises Hope with the “Prophet’s Candle” reminding us that Jesus is coming. In Year 5 we have been learning about Advent and have begun thinking about the special Advent promises they will make to prepare themselves for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas.

Our learning this week…

In English the children have been identifying the features of a good exploration narrative in preparation for writing their own. The children have highlighted the features of a model text and have been experimenting using these features for themselves - modal verbs, fronted adverbials and using a dash to add an additional clause.

In Maths the children have used their understanding of numbers and number patterns to recognise and complete sequences. They have developed their ability to find the rule to a given number sequence.

In RE the children have learnt about the covenant made between God and Abraham.

In Science the children have investigated how the shape of objects are affected by the effects of water resistance.

In PE the children have developed their space-themed dance.

In music the children have listened and appraised the song Cotton Tail, which is a 1940 composition by Duke Ellington and is based on George Gershwin's song I Got Rhythm. The children then practised playing the Three Note Bossa on the glockenspiel.

In Spanish the children have been learning the names of vegetables and have practised their pronunciation.

In Bounce Forward (our PSHE programme) this week, we discussed tough times that people go through and the resilient things we can do to help us get through them. Some of the children chose to share their own personal stories and I really was impressed with their openess and honesty. We talked about how important it is to talk to someone we trust and share how we feel when we’re going through a tough time, as a problem shared is a problem halved.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Elsie

Maths - Emelia

Writing - Poppy

Star Award -

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock’s competition will run till the 18th December. The children will need to complete their Bedrock lessons to earn 140 points, by this date, for a chance to win fantastic prizes (points will be checked starting 31/10/22). We will also continue our own in class competition.

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Mickey 389 points

1 Ola. 360 points

3 Jacob 335 points

4 Charlotte 196 points

5 Hallie 154 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

Advent liturgies

Throughout Advent we would like to invite all children and families to join us in the school hall for a short Advent liturgy led by Father Frank.

This will be held every Tuesday morning at 8:20am and will begin from Tuesday 29th November, continuing until Tuesday 20th December 2022.

We do hope you can join us for this opportunity to gather as a faith community to reflect on the true value and meaning of Advent.

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/half-term-holiday-special?pid=MTA101634&v=72.4

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

Together, we can make a difference

Thank you all so much for supporting our Children In Need collection today. The children enjoyed being in their own clothes and it has given us the chance to talk to the children about all the wonderful work the charity does to support young people.

Our learning this week…

In English the children have put themselves in the astronauts moon boots and have been describing how the astronauts must have felt and what they thought. They have also been exploring new vocabulary and have creatively described the moon in contrast to the Earth to create a contrast poem.

In Maths the focus has been developing their ability to count forwards and backwards in steps of 10, 100, 1,000 and 10,000.

In RE the children have learnt about the covenant made between God and Noah and have reflected on our part in the covenant.

In Science the children have identified the effects of air resistance through an experiment comparing the effectiveness of parachutes.

In PE the children have continued to work on group dance steps to a space theme.

In art the children have worked in the negative using graphite sticks to create a portrait in the style of Frank Auerbach.

In music the children have listened and appraised the bossa nova song, 'Desafinado' (a Portuguese word that means out of tune), composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim. The children have then performed the Three Note Bossa, by Ian Gray, on the glockenspiel.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Ruby

Maths - Isabella

Writing - Hallie

Star Award -

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock’s competition will run till the 18th December. The children will need to complete their Bedrock lessons to earn 140 points, by this date, for a chance to win fantastic prizes (points will be checked starting 31/10/22). We will also continue our own in class competition.

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Ola. 289 points

2 Mickey 279 points

3 Jacob 186 points

4 Charlotte 120 points

5 Hallie 117 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/half-term-holiday-special?pid=MTA101634&v=72.4

Swimmers in groups 1 to 3 - life saving lessons

Those children who are in groups 1-3 (NOT group 4) in our swimming lessons on Tuesday, will need to bring in extra clothing to do some life saving training in the water next week. The swimming instructor has asked that they bring in a long sleeved top and long pyjama style bottoms - light weight tracksuit bottoms or leggings can be worn but nothing too heavy. I will send a text message home to those children who are in these groups.

Thank you again for your support in our Children in Need non-uniform day, it is much appreciated. Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

"Lest we forget" Remembrance day

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the signing of the Armistice – an agreement to end the First World War. Yesterday, Year 5 spent time thinking about all those people in the armed forces who have sacrificed so much to protect their country and we made our own poppies and wrote a prayer of remembrance. This morning, like the rest of the country, we joined the whole school, and our Reception buddies, to hold one minutes silence as a sign of respect.

Our learning this week…

In English the children have continued to work with the lunar landing transcript and have written their own short narrative about it, describing what the astronauts did and said. We’ve also been looking at the words that show tense in writing and have changed paragraphs, from the book we are reading, from present tense into past tense.

In Maths the focus has been working with negative numbers.

In RE the children have reflected on the words of St. Teresa of Avila who said, “Jesus has no body now on Earth but yours.” They also looked into the work of St. Martin de Porres and have thought about how he followed Jesus in order to turn away from sin. The children reflected on what they can learn from him .

In Science we have been identifying forces that act upon objects.

In PE the children have worked well to come up with dance steps, individually and as part of a small group, to a space theme .

In art the children have worked in the negative using graphite sticks and using a rubber to erase the marks and pictures they wish to create.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Lexi Rose

Maths - Charlotte

Writing - Jack

Star Award - Lexi Rose and Bobby

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock’s competition will run till the 18th December. The children will need to complete their Bedrock lessons to earn 140 points, by this date, for a chance to win fantastic prizes (points will be checked starting 31/10/22). We will also continue our own in class competition. Please be reminded that children should only complete ONE Bedrock lesson a day at home. In order to ensure vocabulary retention, it is recommended that only one lesson a day should be completed. It was great to see so many children rise to the challenge last half term and I admire their enthusiasm, however, to ensure fair competition amongst the class, please ensure your child only completes one lesson a day at home. Thanks for your cooperation.

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Ola. 213 points

2 Jacob 193 points

3 Mickey 186 points

4 Charlotte 78 points

5 Oscar O’C 72 points

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/half-term-holiday-special?pid=MTA101634&v=72.4

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

"Live wisely, think deeply, love generously" Pope Francis

Our learning this week…

In English we have begun a new unit of work which will come from the book, Where We Once Stood, which details first-hand accounts of the six moon landings. This week we have explored new vocabulary and phrases from the opening extracts of the book and have looked at strategies to help us with the meanings of these words. We’ve also discussed whether or not humans should return to the moon and the children have backed up their views by giving reasons and justifying their thoughts. The children then turned 1969 lunar landing transcript into punctuated speech.

In Maths the focus has been on ordering and comparing numbers to one million and rounding up to the nearest 100,000.

In RE the children have reflected on God’s message to look after our beautiful world and they have been thinking about how they can be good Stewards of Creation. Laudato Si' is an encyclical (open letter) written by Pope Francis, which was published in 2015. Pope Francis addressed this encyclical to every person on the planet, asking us all to protect the earth, "Live wisely, think deeply, love generously" . The children wrote a letter back to Pope Francis reflecting on how they could play their part in protecting our common home.

In PE the children began a new unit of work on dance and the children worked in pairs and small group to come up with sequenced steps.

In art the children have used pastels and chalks on black paper to create Space pictures of planets.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Ola

Maths - Lexi Rose

Writing - Joshua

Star Award -

Bedrock Competition

I’m delighted to announce that Charlotte and Joshua won Amazon vouchers, from Bedrock, for their efforts in the competition last half term. Well done both of you! 👏🏻🤩

Bedrock also announced a brand new competition starting 31st October ,which will run till the 18th December. The children will need to complete their Bedrock lessons to earn 140 points, by this date, for a chance to win fantastic prizes (points will be checked starting 31/10/22). We will also continue our own in class competition. Please be reminded that children should only complete ONE Bedrock lesson a day at home. In order to ensure vocabulary retention, it is recommended that only one lesson a day should be completed. It was great to see so many children rise to the challenge last half term and I admire their enthusiasm, however, to ensure fair competition amongst the class, please ensure your child only completes one lesson a day at home. Thanks for your cooperation.

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Ola. 100 points

2 Jacob 82 points

3 Mickey 40 points

4 Jack 26 points

5 Bobby 25 points

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/half-term-holiday-special?pid=MTA101634&v=72.4

Swimmers in group 4 - life saving lessons

Those children who are in group 4 in our swimming lessons on Tuesday, will need to bring in extra clothing to do some life saving training in the water next week. The swimming instructor has asked that they bring in a long sleeved top and long pyjama style bottoms - light weight tracksuit bottoms or leggings can be worn but nothing too heavy. I will send a text message home to those children who are in this group.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Thank you to those of you in Year 5 who were able to support the PTFA’s Bonfire disco taking place this evening, it promises to be fun! Thank you to our PTFA for organising this lovely event.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss.

Year 5 achievements

I can’t believe we’re already at half term, the last seven weeks seems to have flown by! The children have been working hard over this half term and it’s been lovely getting to know them. They’ve particularly enjoyed their new leadership responsibilities of Buddies to Reception and Play leaders to KS1.

Today we had our Harvest festival and we came together as a whole school to celebrate this. Thank you once again for your generous contributions to our Harvest collection, it’s' very much appreciated. The tins of food (over 400 tins) will be going to a local food bank for people within the community, which I’m sure you’ll agree is a worthy cause. Thank you for your support!

Our learning this week…

In English the children have built on their story plans and have written their own episode in the style of Jeremy Strong.

In Maths the focus has been on placing numbers on number lines of different scales up to one million.

In Science we have used and created mnemonics to help us remember the order of the planets in our solar system and have identified how they move in relation to the sun.

In geography we continued to use absolute location by reading the lines of latitude and longitude on maps. The children identified countries on World maps using lines of latitude and longitude.

In PE the children had their last session working on developing their leadership skills and have continued to work on adapting games that they can lead when playing with their buddies and KS1.

Our award winners:

Golden Award -

Maths - Mickey

Writing - Rion

Star Award - Charlotte

Reading champion

When the children read regularly, golden tickets are given out and then we do a draw at the end of each half term. Well done to Elsie, who is our golden ticket winner for this half term.

Bedrock Competition

Well done to all of Year 5 who achieved 120 points or more on Bedrock over this last half term. I wish you all luck for the Bedrock prize draw! A big congratulations goes to our Bedrock Champion, Charlotte, and well done to all the other children on our TOP 5 scoreboard. Well done! 👏🏻

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Charlotte 461 points ⭐️Bedrock Champion ⭐️

2. Emma 318 points

3 Hallie 292 points

4 Oscar O’C 284 points

5 Ola 271 points

6 Joshua 262 points

We are delighted to be able to share with you the Good News Gospel readings for families. Please follow the link to share the Gospel at home with your family. These are really child-friendly resources to share at home. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/half-term-holiday-special?pid=MTA101634&v=72.4

Dates for your diary…

Friday 4th November 6-7pm - KS2 Bonfire Night Disco. £3 a ticket (to be paid on Parent Pay) More details will follow in due course.

Sunday 4th December - Christmas Fair. More details to follow.

December - Christmas Jumper Day - date to be confirmed and more details to follow nearer the time.

Thank you for your support in donating to the PTFA’s non-uniform day. Hope you all have a great holiday and we’ll see you back at school on Tuesday 1st of November - don’t forget your swimming kits!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss.