In this Sunday’s gospel, we will hear about Jesus starting to gather his first Christian family. This community that was created was not perfect. Even Jesus’ closest friends, his disciples, were not perfect, but they always made sure that they were working together for the good of their community. A community that is grounded in love, friendship and honesty is one that can always grow and continue to evolve. We constantly hear stories in the bible about people who have listened to God’s call and become people who have changed their ways to live life as better versions of themselves. This is something that we are all trying to do here at Our Lady’s.
Being around school this week, I have seen so many kind acts of love and compassion from our children. Not acts that need to be shouted about or witnessed, but acts that have been done so very subtly - not needing to be seen. These are the acts that tell me that our children are trying to bring the Kingdom of God alive.
Who are our LEARNING ROLE MODELS?
Please visit each class page to see what learning characters these children have demonstrated this week, they really have embodied all of our characters. We are really proud of you!
You're off to Great Places!
Reading is something that we have always been passionate about here in school. We want the children to be able to access every opportunity that is presented to them, and often being able to read is key to this. From the minute the children enter into our Reception class, the room is filled with exciting vocabulary. Words that make the children think, reflect and engage. In Reception and Year 1, we want our children to read a range of books and be read to. There a lots of types of books out there - I wonder how many our younger children can discover.
As the children move through key stage 1 and into the juniors, we introduce AR reader to them. AR gives the children a group of books that is relevant to them, these books can then be quizzed on to support their comprehension. We hope that the love of reading that the children have gathered in their younger years continues as they develop a greater understanding of what they have read. All of the children in Year 2 - Year 6 have taken a letter home with them this week. This letter has the parent’s code on to access your child’s AR log. We have changed the settings for quizzing so that all children can only quiz in school. The staff spend a lot of their time observing the children, and this quiz gives them an insight into how they can provide further support. If you have any questions, please do contact your child’s class teacher and they will be happy to answer any questions that you have.
This week, Miss Lavelle and Mrs Carragher have launched a, ‘Word Wizards’ morning club to promote reading and to provide further support. I was thrilled with the engagement that I saw when I popped into the club - musical statues with words; need I say any more? We are looking to roll this out across more classes throughout the year and to then provide reading workshops for parents too. As Dr Seuss says, ‘The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.’
Sport has continued to dominate school life this past week with our Year 5 & 6 girls’ football team attending the Lancashire Finals, Year 1 have started their multi-skills club with Mr Nay, our Year 5 & 6 athletics team attended the Indoor Athletics Sportshall Competition in Blackpool and Year 3 & 4 are getting to grips with judo. There are just too many memories of these events to share, so we have captured them in a short video for you. Netball and football training will re-start next week in preparation for fixtures after half term. Please make sure that you have checked the sports page on the website for correct days and times.
Online Safety - What support do you need?
Over recent years, we have seen an increase in issues around online safety. With the rapid change in technology, our children are trying to keep up with growing demands, social media and virtual interaction with their peers.
Tuesday 7th February is national online safety day. We use this day to showcase our online safety curriculum and to revisit any issues that appear within the class. This year’s theme is 'Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online.’ It is crucial that we talk and educate ourselves about online safety; keeping up to date with the latest trends. This morning in assembly, I have launched a film competition that all children can take part in. It will appear on homework blogs next week.
On Thursday 9th February, we are hosting a parents’ session about the issues that your children are currently facing and will face when being online. A local advisor will be coming into school and presenting current findings, they will then able to answer any questions that you have. The session will start at 9am, after drop off, and last around 90 minutes. It would be wonderful to get as many parents there as we can (there will be tea, coffee and cakes on offer too!) If you are able to join us, please complete the form below so that we can plan for numbers.
Office News
Not much to report from the Office as we are keeping our heads down! Mrs Shields is busily ordering final classroom items before our financial year ends and Mrs Hodges is dealing with various DFE requirements, School Census, getting papers prepared for Governors for when the admission meeting takes place etc. Not to mention dealing with Dinner Money but we’re trying not to mention that! We’re always so grateful that parents keep us in the loop - filling out absence forms or ringing in or emailing - it really helps when we know what is happening, so thank you for doing this and making our jobs easier.
Attendance
Well done Year 3. We have had a week of illness this week, we hope everyone is starting to feel better soon.
Our whole school attendance for this week is 96.9%, just short of our 97% whole school attendance target. Keep going everyone!
Finally
The sun is looking like it will continue to shine this weekend. Let’s hope that the wet and windy weather is a distant memory as the hours of daylight lengthen and move us slowly towards Spring. Have a lovely weekend with your families.
God bless,
Mrs Gregan