'Those who don't believe in magic will never find it. Children believe in magic.'

This morning in assembly, we have talked about our new virtues that we are trying to demonstrate this half term, INTENTIONAL & PROPHETIC. We want our school community to make decisions with intention, to know what values they hold dear and to demonstrate these in a prophetic way through their actions and words. All of the children talked about their intentions in this final half term; what they wanted to strive to be able to do before they journey into their new classrooms. There is still a lot of time left to master those key skills. Why not ask your child just what they want to achieve in these final few weeks.

Mrs Gregan’s Week Around School

This week has been extremely busy but in a wonderful and enjoyable way! I have spent a lot of time with different groups of children who have all achieved extraordinary things. Our youngest children have taken part in judo for the first time. Our Year 1 children have completed their phonics assessments with such calmness. Our Year 4, 5 & 6 choir and dance troupe took part in Showtime at The North Pier. Despite the heat and the late night, the children were fabulous and behaved beautifully. Thank you to all of the parents who came to support and to Miss Drummond, Miss Liddell and Miss Bassett who prepared the children for this event. You may have noticed that we have had some new benches installed on the playground. Our Year 5 class were the first to use them for lunch this week after a trip to The Winter Gardens to listen to best-selling and acclaimed children’s author, Cressida Cowell. She was fabulous and told us all about her inspiration behind How to Train Your Dragon. We have 5 signed copies that we will be raffling in school next week - keep an eye out!

Please have a look at the photographs below and watch the videos of the performances.

Creative Learning - D&T

Miss Neves is currently revamping our Art and DT curriculum. She has researched tirelessly to ensure that we are giving every child in school the opportunity to be creative and to learn food technology skills. This week our Year 3 children have made fruit kebabs and Year 6 have been planning their ‘Come Dine with Me’ menu. I do believe roasted pepper soup is on the cards for next week. Over the next few weeks, the children will be needing a lot of resources; some of which you will need to provide from home (depending upon what we are making). The resources that are generic and are required by the entire class will be bought and sourced by Miss Neves. We are asking for a £2 donation from each child (Year 1 -6) for food technology this half term. This would enable us to provide all of the resources needed and we will not then be constantly asking for you to send things in. We will put this item on ParentPay later today. Thank you for your continued support, we could not do so much of what we do without you.

Role Models of the Week

Role Models who have demonstrated virtues this week.

Our Whole School learning Role Models for this week.

Office News

It seems so sad in my final half term before retirement to start with money but needs must, just to explain where we are at! At this time of year we are looking at transfers for our Year 6, inputting data for the Autumn intake of our new Reception Class to be, and the move up of all Classes in between. We will be looking to try and straighten all accounts etc for everyone to start a new school year with a clean slate. This means we will be sending out reminders, invoices etc within the next few days.

As regards Year 6, there will be some children who will finish the year with a credit balance on ParentPay from dinners paid for and not taken. I ask those parents to leave their ParentPay account here open and not transfer to St Bede’s until 1st August to ensure any unspent balances are returned. Please too may I ask any parents in Year 6 and all other classes to ensure any arrears owing are paid in ASAP.

Our Weekly Attendance

Well done to Reception - 100%! Our whole school attendance this week is 97.6%

Sports Days

Next week sees the start of Health & Happiness fortnight, and the beginning of our sports days. Typically, the weather is about to change, although I think it is currently too hot for the children so more temperate weather may be a blessing. There are reserve dates in place if they do not go ahead. Next week it is the turn of our infant children:

Monday 19th June 1.30pm - Nursery and Reception (Reserve date: Thursday 6th July)

Tuesday 20th June 1.30pm - Year 1 & Year 2 (Reserve date: Monday 3rd July)

If you are coming to watch and support, please enter the school via the gate on St Patrick’s Road. A member of staff will welcome you and explain where your child will be competing. We look forward to sharing these memorable events with you.

Our Student Council will be running a drinks stand at each event for you to purchase a cold drink and to raise some funds for our school. Please bring some change with you - unfortunately we do not have a card machine just yet.

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much

As mentioned above, there will be a lot of opportunities to get involved in school life this half term. On Saturday 8th July, St Annes Carnival will be taking place. There are a couple of ways that we will be getting involved as a school and parish. Firstly, we have been asked if we would like to walk the processional route which we have accepted. The school will be combining with the parish to walk together. Many of the children will be representing their various clubs and organisations but we would really like a strong Our Lady presence. If your child is wanting to and available to walk this year with us, please can you complete the form below so we can gage numbers for planning.

Don’t forget about the ART COMPETITION for Monday too. We need a formidable art team for the competition. Miss Neves is excited to receive you entries!

Our School Needs You!

We are currently looking at our wider curriculum for next year to ensure that the children have a wide range of knowledge in all areas. Part of this knowledge is experiencing enrichment opportunities to enhance their learning. This is where you come in! Are you involved in a job or profession that you could talk to our children about? Do you have a hobby or a skill that you could use in school? For example, our Year 6 class are currently completing a unit of work on photography. Could you just help out with our garden or with some small projects? Our school really does need you. Please can you complete the form below with some information then the teachers and staff have a pool of people that they can call on.

We finish the week with some lovely, celebratory news. We are delighted to celebrate the arrival of Miss Lavelle’s baby boy. We are sending much love to the new family and cannot wait to meet him. I am sure you will join us in our warm wishes.

God Bless. Have a lovely weekend and wishing all of the wonderful dads in our community, a very happy Father’s Day this Sunday!

Mrs Gregan

“Let your light so shine before you, so that all may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

And so we have arrived at our final half term in school for this year. In many respects it seems like it has gone in the blink of an eye, then again, so much has happened and has been achieved. Our Year 6 children will be giving their time generously to say thank you to the whole school community who has loved and cared for them throughout their time in school. Through working in their jobs around school, to meeting our new Reception parents for next year, to entertaining us with their end of year play, much fun will be had and more memories will be made. For our other children in each class, they will be ensuring that they have all of the necessary tools in their toolkits, gathered from their current year groups, before meeting their new teachers and looking forward to next year. Alongside all of the learning that is still to be achieved, we have sports days, health and happiness weeks, Gym Jam Jog and much, much more. Please keep an eye on the dates section of the website for everything that is going on. Our first Sports Days start on Monday 19th June for our nursery and reception children.

“Serve one another in love.”
— Galatians 5:13

When I talk about service, I am sure that you will agree that Mrs Hodges has been the ultimate servant of the community of Our Lady Star of the Sea. For over 30 years, she has loved each and every member, provided a listening ear, supported families when they have needed it the most and has been the go to person in school for nearly every kind of situation. It is certainly time for Mrs Hodges to have a rest and to retire to spend time with her beautiful family. As we say goodbye to our Year 6s in July, we will also be saying goodbye to Mrs Hodges. I know many of you will want to visit her this summer to thank her and to wish her well. I know that she will continue to visit us beyond her retirement. Once a member of the Our Lady family, always a member of the Our Lady’s family.

Mrs Nel has been appointed as our new office manager and will be taking over from Mrs Hodges in the office from September. As you all pop in over the coming weeks, you may see her in there learning the ropes and getting to grips with the nature of the job. Please do say hello when you see her.

Sun Safety

What fabulous weather we have had for our half-term holiday. It has certainly been appreciated. From looking at the weather for the coming week, and beyond, it looks like it is here to stay.

In order to protect the children whilst they are in school, please can you send in:

  • A good size water bottle that can be refilled during the course of the day.

  • A sun hat (preferably wide brimmed) that will protect them when outside.

  • A small bottle of sun cream that the children can reapply during the day. The staff in school cannot apply sun cream for safeguarding reasons. Please make sure your child is smothered in it before coming in, staff will then supervise them reapplying it. Each class can have a sun cream station! Just a small bottle or roll on sun cream is ideal - labelled with your child’s name. Part of our health education is sun awareness so this is a perfect learning opportunity.

  • No sunglasses please. These can be dangerous when the children are outside and playing with each other.

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much

As mentioned above, there will be a lot of opportunities to get involved in school life this half term. On Saturday 8th July, St Annes Carnival will be taking place. There are a couple of ways that we will be getting involved as a school and parish. Firstly, we have been asked if we would like to walk the processional route which we have accepted. The school will be combining with the parish to walk together. Many of the children will be representing their various clubs and organisations but we would really like a strong Our Lady presence. If your child is wanting to and available to walk this year with us, please can you complete the form below so we can gage numbers for planning.

We will also be entering the collaborative art competition as a school. Miss Neves will be putting together a team of artists to work together. Don’t worry if you aren’t selected, there is an opportunity to enter the event as a solo artist. Please have a look at the competition below for your chance to be a part of it.

Extra-Curricular Sport

It really is a Summer of Sport! There are some great opportunites to get involved, and hopefully represent the school teams. There will be clubs on at lunch time as well as after school Please visit the SPORT page on the website to sign up to the clubs on offer:

  • Year 5 & 6 cricket

  • Year 1 sports club

  • Year 5 & 6 swimming trials

Judo will also be taking place for Year 1 and Reception children. Text messages will go out for that club tomorrow.

Finally, please can I ask that the children do not use the trim trail after school at the end of the day. There are risk assessments in place for them during the school day, but not once the school bell has rang. Can I also ask that the school garden is too kept free. There are lots of times when the children visit during the school week and now with our lovely allotment there, they will be there even more. Thank you kindly for your co-operation with this.

We are really looking forward to spending the summer term with you all. Let’s hope that the end of the year is just as successful as the year we have already had.

God bless

Mrs Gregan

"Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.”

“The Eucharist is the sacrament of love: it signifies love, it produces love.”
— St Thomas Aquinas

Over the past two weeks we have seen our Year 4 children receive the body of Christ for the very first time. Together with Arthur in Year 6 and other members of the parish, the children received Jesus into their hearts, through a pure act of love. It was lovely to see the church so full for each occasion; filled with song, prayer and scripture. The Holy Communion is such an important event for the school and the parish together. Thank you to Father Peter for being so involved in the programme, for children and parents, and to Mrs Lyons, Mrs Nel, Mrs Webster, Miss Lavelle and Miss Hennessy who have supported the children every step of the way.

Feel the fear…and do it anyway

I have had the absolute pleasure of joining Year 6 on their residential week in Coniston. This photograph epitomises everything that I saw. Team work, cooperation, dedication, communication, resilience, courage and laughter.

We are so proud of this group of exceptional human beings. Throughout the week, the children have tackled new challenges and achieved new heights. The weather has certainly helped this week, it has been glorious. A huge thank you to all of the staff who have given up their time to support the children and take them away. We are grateful for your love and compassion.

Role Models of the Week

Our Whole School learning Role Models for this week - we will add Year 1 later on!

Our Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 6! Our whole school attendance this week is 98.1%

Office News

We have news of 2 vacancies which have arisen in our lovely school workforce community.

We need a a Caretaker for 10 hours per week, Monday to Friday to open up school at 7am; there will be various ancillary duties with this job and the caretaker will work one hour in the morning and one hour, late afternoon and be responsible for locking up and securing the school building and the site.

We also need a cleaner for 10 hours per week to join our excellent cleaning team, which would then become a trio. Ideally we would have someone who could work 2 hours per day, Monday to Friday from 3:30pm.

Please let us know if you are interested. You can email to: head@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk and an application pack will be emailed back. f you have any problems with getting hold of an application pack, you can leave a message on our answerphone -01253 726 015 or let us know on 12th June when school resumes.

The lunch menu for Summer half-term 2 and the early autumn is now on the website.

Our School Needs You!

We are currently looking at our wider curriculum for next year to ensure that the children have a wide range of knowledge in all areas. Part of this knowledge is experiencing enrichment opportunities to enhance their learning. This is where you come in! Are you involved in a job that you could talk to our children about? Do you have a hobby or a skill that you could use in school? For example, our Year 6 class are currently completing a unit of work on photography. Could you just help out with our garden or with some small projects? Our school really does need you. Please can you complete the form below with some information then the teachers and staff have a pool of people that they can call on.

One of our wonderful Year 3 pupils is taking part in a production of the much-loved family musical ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at Blackpool Grand Theatre between 31st May to 3rd June this coming half-term with the Blackpool and Fylde Light Opera Company (BFLOC). Tickets are still available for you to show your support and have a really good time at this show in one of the country’s most beautiful theatres.

This morning, we had a visit from the Scouts to tell us about all of the opportunities that will come our way! There is an open evening on the 12th June for all children to attend. Have a look at the flyer above for more information.

Miss Bassett has shared the most wonderful news this week with her class that she is expecting her second baby. I am sure you will join us as a whole school community in congratulating her and her family on this joyous news. I know the children have been very keen to be involved in the baby’s name. What an exciting time!

Have a wonderful half term with your families and loved ones. We return to school on Monday 12th June. Please ensure that you have checked the school calendar for dates of sports days and key events during the final half term in school.

God Bless

Mrs Gregan

"If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself,"

Yesterday we went to church to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. We know that Jesus had completed his work on earth and that it was time for him to return to his father in Heaven. As a school, we have been thinking about the work that we still have to complete. This may be work in our classes, ready for next year. Work as a human, to be the best versions of ourselves. We know that we are never done, but always looking for ways in which to grow.

It has been another big week for our Year 6 children in school. After finding out about the play last Friday, the children took part in auditions for their end of year play on Monday. What a cast we are going to have! They were superb. Then on Thursday, the children came into school in their smartest wear to be interviewed by myself and Mrs Harrison. The children will be carrying out jobs around school after half term. We are unbelievably proud of the confidence that has been shown.

The excitement continues next week as our Year 6s head off with some very kind staff for a week’s residential in Coniston. We wish you all a wonderful time! I am currently looking at some different options moving forward for our Year 5 class and their residential next year. I will be in touch in the coming weeks with more information.

Reception’s Campaign

When you are out and about this weekend, keep an eye out for our Reception Class’s wonderful art work. Whilst working with the Fylde Ranger Team, the children produced some posters to keep St Annes clean. We are so proud that they have been used across the Fylde in lots of different locations. What a great message from so many younger children!

See if you can spot them and take a photo of you with them! Send them in so we can set up a trail!

Role Models of the Week

Role Models who have demonstrated virtues this week.

Our Whole School learning Role Models for this week.

Our Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 5 & Year 6! Our whole school attendance this week is 97.2%

Our School Needs You!

We are currently looking at our wider curriculum for next year to ensure that the children have a wide range of knowledge in all areas. Part of this knowledge is experiencing enrichment opportunites to enhance their learning. This is where you come in! Are you involved in a profession that you could talk to our children about? Do you have a hobby or a skill that you could use in school? For example, our Year 6 class are currently completing a unit of work on photography. Could you just help out with our garden or with some small projects? Our school really does need you. Please can you complete the form below with some information then the teachers and staff have a pool of people that they can call on.

Ten Ten is the resource we use in school to teach our HRSE programme. They are looking for STARS! Could you be the person that they are looking for?

This weekend Mrs Hodges celebrate a BIG birthday. We hope that the beautiful sunshine shines for the most beautiful lady.

Well done to Harcourt who have won this half term’s house points. Own clothes day for you next Friday.

God Bless

Mrs Gregan

"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples." — Mother Teresa

‘The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all. To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. To others the same Spirit gives faith.’ 1 Corinthians 12: 7-9

Following the death and resurrection of Jesus, our attention moves to His ascension and the arrival of the Holy Spirit - the most beautiful gift that we have been given. In Year 2 this week, the children have been looking at the story of Pentecost and times when we have needed the gifts of the Holy Spirit. As a school, we talked about how we know the way home; we always have someone to guide us. This is the same as Jesus. His father was calling him home. He is ‘The Way, The Truth and The Life.’

Tomorrow, some of our Year 4 children will be receiving the gift of Holy Communion for the first time. Half of the children from Y4 will be receiving the sacrament tomorrow and the other half of the class, together with Arthur from Y6 and some children from other schools, next Saturday. We pray that they all understand the true significance of what they are about to receive. Please keep them and their families in your prayers at this very special time. Thank you to our wonderful staff who have supported the children at every step of their journey.

Our Year 6 children

There is a group of children (and staff) in school who have shown enormous wisdom, knowledge and courage this week as they have sat down to tackle their end of year assessments. Our Year 6 children have come into school each day, determined to show what they can do. The hall has been a hive of brain power as they have moved from one paper to the next; one area of learning to the next. Together with their teachers, they have seen that the SATs are just a snippet of who they are as a person. Throughout the year they have continued to learn the wider curriculum, only turning their focus to their assessments in Spring. SATs measure many things, but they do not measure a child’s compassion, humour, creativity - a whole host of qualities which our children possess in bucket loads. We could not be more proud of them all.

Now their attention turns to the end of year play and service with a smile. Next week, the children will be auditioning for roles in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and also being interviewed for a job around school, part of their mission of service, to ‘give back’ to their community. Together, alongside Year 5, the children will have a wonderful time, preparing for the play and working as one big team to put on an end of year spectacular!

Celebration of our community

Change is inevitable, and in school, change happens on a minute by minute basis. Whether this is because of how a child is feeling, the type of morning that we have all had or simply the weather - the daily climate of a school is changeable. What does not change quite so easily is the culture. At Our Lady's the culture of embedded relationships, striving to be the very best version of ourselves and the desire to provide the very best opportunities for the children in our care, runs through us all. The culture of Our Lady's is ingrained in all of us and it runs deep. There is no doubt that the past year has been a time of change, but a time of growth too. We have welcomed so many new members to our community; children and families, staff and governors.

When OFSTED arrived to inspect our school, I feel like they came at just the right time. It was lovely for me to be able to share our vision moving forward and for the inspectors to see just how special the community of Our Lady’s is. During my many conversations with them, they constantly referred to the children knowing themselves and knowing that they could and will make a difference in the world. They spoke about the comments that our parents and families had made, demonstrating the strong sense of community that we have. They spoke at length to staff about their expectations in school. We are ambitious and we have high expectations of ourselves and our children. We all want the very best.

I am absolutely delighted to be able to share with you the OFSTED report. When reading it, it is hard to sum up our school in just two pages, but what it does do is capture the very essence of our school. The children do skip into school each morning, with a huge smile on their face. This report is testament to each and every member of our school community. Please do not underestimate just how hard it is to receive this judgement; it is not given lightly, in fact the number of schools receiving it is rapidly reducing. It is a validation of what we do in school, and an assurance that we are on the right path. We will never be perfect, but what we are is a learning community which grows and learns together - always striving to be the very best version of ourselves. Enjoy reading. I hope you too share my enormous sense of pride.

Role Models of the Week

Role Models who have demonstrated virtues this week.

Our Whole School learning Role Models for this week.

Our Year 6 Superstars!

Year 1 Certificate Winners

Attendance

Well done Year 4 with an attendance of 99.6% this week. Our whole school attendance this week is 97.5%

Office News

In the office this week, we have been tip-toeing around in the mornings due to SATs tests in the hall and we’ve had some lovely little walks around the school perimeter, taking children to other classes when returning from appointments. It was a bonus to have those little moments outside enjoying the fresh air!

We are currently checking records to ensure we have the most up to date information and we will send you all a text tonight using the first contact number. We’re asking class teachers to mention this on their weekly class blogs too so, if you don’t receive a text by 5pm, you will need to ring us on Monday with an updated telephone number.

And so we are back into a 5 day week next week - with just two weeks left until half term. After half term, our final one of the school year, we have our annual sports days, Gym-Jam Jog and end of year play. Please keep an eye on the dates section of the website to see what is coming up. Just to put a smile on your face, please see our wonderful Coronation Celebration video.

God Bless

Mrs Gregan

'Our life spreads light when it is given in service. The secret of joy is living to serve.'

It seems that there have been quite a few historic moments in recent years - things have happened that we have never seen before and may never see again. Today has been all about the Coronation; the legacy which Queen Elizabeth left and the position that King Charles will be taking up. As a school we have looked at the role of the monarchy and how important our new King’s role will be; not just in our country but in the wider world. These occasions are ones which bring great joy and celebration - we really love a good party in school!

As well as looking at our new monarch, we have been thinking about role models of faith. People who lead by example and are a beacon of light to others. We have been honoured to welcome Miss Hornby back into school today to present her with something so very rare, but so very well-deserved. When Miss Hornby made her decision to retire, Mrs Hotchkiss looked at how we could recognise her tremendous commitment to our Catholic faith, and to our community. As a group, we applied for her to receive The Benemerenti Medal - a papal medal awarded for service to the Catholic Church. This medal is awarded by the Pope. We crossed our fingers (and toes), waiting for a response. When the response came, she had not been awarded this medal, instead her award had been elevated to that of Dame of St Gregory. This rare and special honour is bestowed upon Catholics, by the Pope, in recognition of exceptional personal service to the Holy See and to the Catholic Church, through examples which have been set in their communities. There are only 13 Dames in our Country - we are so incredibly proud that Miss Hornby is now one of them and we could not think of a more deserving recipient. I am sure you will want to join us in congratulating Miss Hornby. For someone who does not like awards or fuss, and has always seen her role as one of service, we felt that she needed a little bit of ceremony today. It was a great joy to see her receive her insignia and certificate, signed by His Holiness Pope Francis, with the whole school family all around her.

Our Coronation Celebrations

Here is a small selection of our celebration today. I will collate photos from all classes next week and post a big tribute next week. We send special thanks to Jacqui, Sharon and Heather in our catering team as they made around 215 picnics today which were greatly enjoyed by everyone outside and the delicious food in red, white and blue boxes, made it all seem such a treat as we tucked in and enjoyed being outside in the fresh air.

Over the past few years, the local primary and high schools have been working together to create a vision where we can support families further. Last week, I took two ambassadors to the launch of this vision - The Coastal Collective. Lytham Foundation have provided funding for us all to be able to source further support for the pupils in our care. Whether this is behavioural support, family link workers or speech and language, we want to be in the position where we can access support when we need it. I have attached a letter below that explains the programme in a little more detail and the job opportunities that we are aiming to create for it initially.

Role Models of the Week

Role Models who have demonstrated virtues this week.

Our Whole School learning Role Models for this week.

Attendance

Well done Year 3 with an attendance of 99.1% this week. Our whole school attendance this week is 98.1%

Have a wonderful weekend with your families and friends. It is a moment in British history which does not happen very often - enjoy celebrating, however you choose to do so.

God Bless

Mrs Gregan

'I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.' John 10: 10

This week is Vocation Sunday, and the Gospel is Jesus’ teaching about living ‘life to the full’. In school, we are looking at ways that we can be attentive to the things and people around us and then to make careful choices. We passionately want the children, in order to live their lives to the full, to grasp every opportunity which they are given and make careful choices about what they do. On Tuesday, our Reception class told us the story of their journey so far. They shared the choices that they have made, based on the attention which they’ve given to their learning. We were blown away with just how confidently the children spoke, and how much they have learnt so far this year. I actually think that the most learning which takes place in a child’s school career happens in Reception. We are all so proud of how you have started your school journey and cannot wait to see how you continue to grow.

I have been in and out of classes all week seeing what our children have been up to. I have had the pleasure of teaching some tricky maths concepts to Year 6; they are really working hard on their statistics knowledge. I have taught RE in Year 2; looking at the good news of Jesus’ death. I even popped into Year 5 to hear their debating lessons all about moral dilemmas. I have had such a lovely week.

For many years now, Mrs Hotchkiss has led a group of able and willing gardeners, down to our Shepherd Road allotment. They have grown a whole host of fruit and vegetables which have been sold to our school community. The children loved this opportunity, but it was only an option for a small number of our pupils. This has now changed. You may have seen that next to our environmental garden, there is the polytunnel, along with a number of raised beds. We have decided to bring the allotment garden to school! Last week, Mrs Hotchkiss started her lunch time gardening club with children from every year group. Please keep an eye on how the space will develop over the coming weeks and months.

‘God Save the King!

Just a reminder about our ‘Coronation Celebrations’ next Friday. Coronation picnics have been ordered for those children who have ordered one. Get those red, white and blue clothes ready! we want to make this a very special and memorable day for everyone in our school community.

Role Models of the Week

Unfortunately, I have not been in school today. I have been growing my brain on a course and have not been able to take the photographs of our certificate winners. We have also had two classes out on trips. I will make sure that the photographs are uploaded on Tuesday for you to share the celebrations.

Learning Role Models of the Week

Office News

Well it’s been a really busy week in the office. At this time of year we are busy looking to completing records as the summer term rushes by and we need to ensure that everything balances. Each year, a new class of children start in our Reception Class and a much loved Year 6 Class move up to High School so that’s almost 30% of our school population on the move. So much record keeping and account setting up goes on in the office.

This week we’ve been liaising with classes to check we have everyone’s next Friday’s (5th May) Coronation Picnic orders! Children are great at putting hands up to say they’d like something so, to be sure everyone is covered, we’ll be confirming orders today by text. As you know, KS1 meals are free and KS2 picnics incur a cost of £2.40. If your child has ordered and you DON’T want them to have the meal, please email us, to : bursar@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk OR ring us by noon on Monday on 01253 726 015

Weekly School Attendance

Well done to Year 1 this week - 100%. Our whole school attendance was 96.6%

Finally…

Thank you to everyone who has made a real effort with uniform in recent weeks. We have seen an increase in school uniform being worn - particularly on PE days - and the correct colour trainers too. Just a reminder that these need to be predominantly blue, black or white. You may have seen that the staff have been wearing school hoodies this year, and looking incredibly smart too! These hoodies will be available to purchase as part of school uniform for children ready for September. The school tracksuit will still be available, in addition, to be used as part of the uniform. Top Marque will stock them for purchase.

Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend with your families. Let’s hope that the sun will shine and we all get a chance to relax. School will open again on Tuesday 2nd May at 8.45am.

God Bless

Mrs Gregan

“You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

The sun has shone this week and the brightness in the weather has been mirrored in our spirits. All of the children have been eager to come into school, often racing into class - it has been lovely to see. Today we launched our new virtues for this half term - attentive and discerning. Through the story of Doubting Thomas, we discussed how attentive the disciples were. They noticed the small things, as well as the bigger things. They noticed what was important and listened to what they were asked to do. Because of this, the disciples became discerning. They could start making careful choices about what was right and about what God had called them to do. This is something that we are striving to do this half term. We are striving to be attentive to the people around us and discerning in the choices that we are making.

For Lent, we sought to fundraise for CAFOD through an enormous amount of events and opportunities. From cake sales, to art galleries, to sponsored walks, the children gave of themselves freely for the cause. I am unbelievably proud to reveal that we have raised just over £2300 for CAFOD. Thank you all for your generosity and support.

‘God Save the King!’

These events in history do not happen very often - so let’s fully celebrate it and immerse ourselves in the pageantry of the occasion. On Friday 5th May, we will be having a CORONATION DAY in school. The children are invited to come in wearing red, white and blue - or even dress as the royal family, princesses or princes.

As part of the celebrations, we will be having a whole school picnic on the field and munching on a Coronation picnic prepared for by Jacqui and her team in the kitchen. Those children who normally have a school dinner on a Friday will automatically receive a picnic box. If your child does not have a dinner and would like one, they are priced at £2.40. Please complete the form below this weekend. We need to know numbers by Monday so a food order can be placed.

Corum Life Education

For the past two days, we have had Corum Life Education visit us in school. They have held a workshop with each of our classes and raised some really important issues that the children will face. From friendships, to making the right choices, to them understanding their bodies, the children have all benefited from direct time spent discussing subjects that they will experience. These discussions then contribute to the bigger PSHE picture in school. A leaflet is coming home with your child tonight to explain the programme. Why not ask them what they have remembered and discussed?

Role Models of the Week

Learning Role Models of the Week

School Virtue Role Models of the Week

Office News

We are trying to ensure that everyone is up to date with dinner money so please help us by checking ParentPay - we will send texts but please remember that we ask you to pay for lunches in advance as you would outside of school. It takes more time than we would wish to chase up arrears. We’re always here to help if anyone has a problem but do ask, otherwise it becomes an extra duty for us when we have already busy days. This is a particularly busy time as classes prpare to move up, our Y6’s prepare for transition to High School and we prepare for a new september intake for reception Class.

As a reminder, the dinner money for this half-term is £67.20 for 28 dinners (2 Bank Holidays). Dinners are still £2.40 per meal for KS2 children.

Just a reminder to look out for Dominic Sanderson this weekend, who will be running his 2nd London Marathon - on 23rd April 2023, St George’s Day and Shakespeare’s birthday. As you know, he’s running on behalf of a very worthy charity, Get Kids Going - for children who have disabilities, to help get them into sport. It’s still possible to sponsor Dominic if you’d like to and it’s on:

Weekly School Attendance

Well done to Year 2 this week - 100%. Our whole school attendance was 96.9%

Finally…

Unfortunately, we have had to postpone the planned quiz night next Friday. We just did not have enough numbers to make the event viable. We will look at another opportunity later on in the term to host a family event as it has been something which people have said they would be interested in. I know many of you said that you would have attended - I need to work on my advertising skills clearly. Watch this space for a future event.

Have a lovely weekend with your families.

God Bless

Mrs Gregan

"How much do you love me?' And Jesus said, 'This much.' Then He stretched out His arms and died.”

There are some moments in time that you wish you could capture and hold onto for eternity. This week has contained those moments. The sense of emotion which filled the hall each morning as we made our journey to the cross has been incredibly poignant. The liturgies which the children have shared with us all, celebrated Jesus’s arrival into Jerusalem, allowed us to be part of the intimacy of the Last Supper, made us reach out as Jesus was left alone in Gethsemane, cried out in despair at His Crucifixion and enabled us to see the hope and glory of Jesus’ Resurrection. Thank you, to each and every one of you for taking time to join us. Thank you for respecting the silence that we wanted to create as our children came into the hall. We hope that you have all found time to reflect and pray during this Holy Week.

“The Passion of Christ is the greatest and most stupendous work of Divine Love. The greatest and most overwhelming work of God’s love.”
— St Paul

It is hard to believe that we have reached the end of the Spring term. There is so much to celebrate and be proud of. Today, our Student Council announced the winners of the decorating an egg competition. The standard was incredibly high. The council particularly loved the ones that the children had made all by themselves, they could see the care and attention that had gone into them. A huge £128 for CAFOD was raised as a result of the competition. This will be added to the rest of the money that has been collected. Thank you for your generosity this Eastertime.

Our School Role Models

KS1 Certificate Winners

KS2 Certificate Winners

School Attendance

Well done to Year 4 this week - 99.7%. Our whole school attendance for the Spring Term is 96.63%

Office News

What a wonderfully busy term this has been and we have noticed so many more of you filling in the absence form online or leaving messages on the telephone or copying the office into emails to class teachers if it concerns children being absent. It helps us greatly as we have a legal responsibility to record all absences accurately. On the dinner front we have quite a few people whose accounts are in debit and we shall be following up next week with individual reminders. We can only serve dinners going forward if accounts are in credit. We have sent a general reminder out to KS2 families and please note, dinners taken on 6th April are not yet inputted onto ParentPay. If you do check the balance, please be aware that dinners taken on 6th have not yet been recorded so do add a further £2.40 for that day. Next half-term, there are 28 dinner sessions, - there are 2 Bank Holidays, on 1st May and 8th May. Dinners for the half-term will be £67.20.

Uniform

We are very much hoping that the Summer term brings with it much warmer weather. The sun has certainly started to peek through, giving us hope that brighter days are coming. I have attached the uniform PDF for you to have a look at below. Please pay particular attention to the colour of PE trainers.

Summer dresses/shorts are definitely a sign that the sun is out. There are lots of different versions of these now which are available to buy in all the supermarkets and shops like Next, M&S and Matalan. As long as they are blue and white, they should meet the uniform guidelines. Do try on summer dresses over the Easter holiday, any that are now too small, please bring into school as soon as we come back and we are going to put out a uniform stall, hopefully at the end of the first week.

Family Quiz Night

On Friday 28th April - 6pm - we will be hosting our first Family Quiz Night for the School Community, to be held at the Parish Centre. Soft drinks and snacks will be available to purchase on the night.

Please complete the Microsoft Form below if you are wanting to attend, indicating how many members of your family will be part of your team.

We do only have a specific amount of space and therefore we will not be able to accommodate all members of the school community - it is on a first come, first serve basis. Families will be contacted on Monday 17th April confirming your team. At this point, you will be able to pay for your tickets via Parent Pay. Tickets are £2.50 per person in your team.

We are in need of raffle prizes for the night. If you have any at home or you can donate any to school, please do. Or if you feel like you can lend a hand helping to set up the evening, please let us know.

Finally…

A new extra-curricular timetable will be launched after Easter, along with our Summer menu too. Judo will continue for a new group of children. If your child is in KS2 and has not taken part in judo this year but would have liked to, please complete the form below. I will then offer spaces to younger children if there are places available.

We will be returning to school on Monday 17th April at 8.45am and 8.50am. Thank you for all your wonderful support this term. It is always appreciated and we never take it for granted. Wishing you all a very happy and holy Easter.

Mrs Gregan

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

““I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.””
— Mother Teresa

When I stood up at my interview and spoke about why I wanted to lead the school at Our Ladys, I spoke about everything that the community is - who we are and what we want for our children. I spoke using the words from the prayer in our entrance, “If this is not a place where I can belong, where can I just be me.” This week has been a true celebration of us; our wonderful pupils, our dedicated staff, our committed governors and our supportive families. It truly is a place where we can all be.

Without doubt, our biggest champions this week were our beloved children. So many of them spoke to the inspection team to tell them what life was like at school. They discussed the opportunities that they had, the learning that they remembered, the skills that they have amassed and the journey that they had been on. For such small children, they spoke with great maturity. We are beyond proud of the children - the most wonderful ambassadors of our school. They are the reason why we do what we do.

We look forward to reading the final report, which will be with us in around 7 weeks, and sharing the findings with you all.

I could not have thought of a more special way to end our week than in prayer with our Year 2 class. This morning, the children shared the events of Palm Sunday with the whole school community. From the welcome that Jesus experienced when he arrived in Jerusalem, the noise of the crowd, to the knowing of what He knew he would soon face. It was incredibly poignant. We now move towards the Last Supper on Monday which will be led by our Year 3 children. We look forward to welcoming you into school to share in the passion of Christ with Year 3, 4 5 & 6. We hope that you can take the time as part of your own Lenten journey to reflect and to pause. The hall will be very still and quiet, each class will be there, following Jesus’ journey and it is so important for each child and adult to share the emotion with prayerful reverence.

School Council Easter Egg Competition

On Wednesday, the Student Council will be holding the Easter Egg Competition. Children are invited to decorate an egg - however they want - and bring it into school for judging. It is £1 entry for CAFOD.

There will be a prize for each class winner and then an ultimate prize for the overall school winner.

Can all sponsor money for class activities and Lenten boxes also be returned next Wednesday.

Thank you for your support!

Our School Role Models

Certificate Winners

Certificate Winners

School Virtue Holders

School Attendance

Well done to Reception this week - 99.3%. Our whole school attendance was 96.9%

Office News

We’ve had a little glitch on our ParentPay and have been unable to input Thursday and Friday’s dinners. We will rectify this by Monday - those families in debit know where they are at from last week’s texts and looking on ParentPay and we do urge you to go on the system by Sunday evening and pay for dinners owed plus £2.40 per dinner and add in for any dinners to be taken next week.

Jacqui’s Easter lunch is Wednesday for those who normally have it or have booked one as an extra that day. Free to KS1, £2.40 for KS2 children.

We are very proud of a member of our community, Dominic Sanderson, who will be running his 2nd London Marathon - on 23rd April 2023 -St George’s Day and Shekespeare’s birthday no less! You may have seen Dominic doing his training runs around the Fylde! He’s running on behalf of such a worthy charity, Get Kids Going - this is for children who have disabilities and to get them into sport. If you’d like to sponsor Dominic, you can do so on:

Finally…

We welcomed back today from leave, our caretaker Mr Malicdem whose wife has recently had a baby boy and we all send them our good wishes. Also we had the delight of seeing Miss Woodend who came to see the Y2 Palm Sunday worship, bringing in (to the office!) her precious 3 month old baby girl - some of us were lucky enough to get a cuddle!

Today we are saying goodbye to a pupil in school, Jiana. We have loved having you as part of our school family and wish you all the very best as you start your new adventure. Once an Our Lady’s child, always an Our Lady’s child and forever part of our school family.

Just a reminder that we finish for the Easter holidays next Thursday, 6th April. Marsden and Harcourt will be collected from class at 2pm. Bamber and Plessington will be 2.05pm. We wish each and every one of you a very peaceful and restful weekend.

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

Lent can often be a solemn and reflective time. We know what is coming and how we will feel when we arrive at the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. On Friday next week, we will be starting our own journey to the Cross as our Year 2 children depict Palm Sunday. We often think of this day as a joyful one, full of praise and excitement. However, we soon come to realise just why Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem as from there, he moves ever closer to the desolation and pain of His Crucifixion and thankfully then to His glorious Resurrection.. During the period of Lent, each class has booked time to visit Mass alongside Father Peter. This week our Reception children walked down to church with Year 6, and our Year 1 and 2 children walked with Year 5. It was lovely to see the children being so reverent; listening so carefully to the messages that Father Peter was giving.

A reminder about assembly dates:

  • Friday 31st March - Year 2 Palm Sunday Worship - 9.15am

  • Monday 3rd April - Year 3 The Last Supper Worship - 9.15am

  • Tuesday 4th April - Year 4 Garden of Gethsemane Worship - 9.15am

  • Wednesday 5th April - Year 5 The Crucifixion Worship - 9.15am

  • Thursday 6th April - Year 6 The Resurrection Worship - 9.15am

We hope that you will be able to join us as we make our own personal journey to the cross. Over many years now, leading up to Easter, we have asked our classes, from Year 2 upwards, to devise worships, rather than assemblies, to be prayerful services depicting Jesus’ passage through the events of His time from Palm Sunday through the Last Supper, desolation at Gethsemane, then His Passion and His glorious Resurrection. These worships are at the forefront of our faith and are an opportunity for us to pray and reflect together. We hope that you can take the time as part of your own Lenten journey to reflect and to pause. The hall will be very still and quiet, each class will be there, following Jesus’ journey and it is so important for each child and adult to share the emotion with prayerful reverence.

You may want to leave smaller children in the care of someone else so that you can immerse yourself and be lost in the Passion of Christ.

As a footnote, moving away from solemnity, on Tuesday our Year 1 class delivered a beautiful assembly all about Mary and their own mums. There was not a dry eye in the hall. Thank you Year 1 for showing us how grateful you are and how generous your mums are.

All classes have been really busy thinking of ways that they can give something to our community as well as raising money for CAFOD. At the beginning of the week, our Year 6 put their hearts and souls into baking for their school community, leading a cake sale in school. We had brownies, cakes, cookies - all kinds of baked goods with every dietary requirement catered for. Thank you so much Year 6 - you have raised over £160! On Wednesday, our Year 3 children walked to Ashton Gardens in order to bring some sunshine to people’s lives. Each child painted a pebble to leave around the park on a little trail. What a lovely thing to do! I am going to set you a mission. Can you go to Ashton Gardens and find the little pebbles that our Year 3 children have made? Take a photo and send it to me. Let’s see how many of our community can visit!

Finally, today our Year 5 children walked down to the beach with the Fylde Rangers to litter pick. I am so very proud of the effort and dedication our children are showing. They have given their time generously for the good of our community. Keep an eye on the website next week to hear what the other classes have been up to.

Year 6 Cake Sale

Year 3 Community Pebbles

“To celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation means to be wrapped in a warm embrace.”
— Pope Francis

Last night, our Year 4 children took the next step in their preparation for receiving Holy Communion. Together with some other pupils from the parish, the children received the sacrament of Reconciliation. It was such a beautiful mass; quiet and very reflective. The children will now start their preparation for their Holy Communion after Easter, please keep them in your prayers.

Role Models of the Week

Role Models who have demonstrated virtues this week.

Our Whole School learning Role Models for this week.

Easter Dinner

If you would like your child to have the Easter Dinner on Wednesday 5th April, and they do not normally have one, please can you complete the form below. Meals for KS1 children are free under the UFSM scheme and for children in KS2, the cost is £2.40 (our usual school meal charge) for those who do not usually have a dinner on this day. Please pay for any KS2 dinners on ParentPay once you have completed the form.

Attendance

Well done Reception with an attendance of 99% - a full house! Our whole school attendance this week is 96.7%

Finally…

Today is the day we say goodbye to our dearest Colette in our Nursery. We have spent the day being grateful for her and for all she has given our community. I am sure that you will keep her in your prayers as she starts her new adventure. We love you Colette. Thank you for touching the hearts of everyone in our community. You will forever be part of our school family and in the hearts of so many families here, past and present.

God Bless

Mrs Gregan

“A loving heart, determination, faith, courage, trust, belief, truth, and a solid soul create the wings with which we fly.”

GIVE, ACT and PRAY, these are our key words as we journey through Lent and towards the cross of Jesus. In today’s assembly, we looked at the story of the woman whose heart was starved of love. A woman who had been looked down upon by her own community and made to feel small. Jesus reminded her that He loved her, that if she believed in Him, her heart would never thirst for love again.

Over the past week, each class has finalised how they are going to raise money for CAFOD this Lent. Next week, various classes of children are taking part in missions across St Annes with the hope of bringing a smile to the faces of our community. Some classes are litter picking on the beach, others are creating posters to put up via the Park Rangers and one class is creating pebble art to place in the parks around our school. We never want anyone’s heart to feel starved of love. Anything we can do to help our local and global community, we strive to do. Please support your child at home with their sponsor form. Let’s see just how much money we can raise.

Year 6 are hosting a cake sale next week. The children can bring in 50p to buy a cake.

Monday 20th March - KS1 cake sale.

Tuesday 21st March - KS2 cake sale.

In addition to the sponsored events, the student council have decided to bring back an old, Our Lady tradition - THE EGG DECORATING COMPETITON. For £1 entry fee, the children need to bring in a boiled, decorated egg for the competition. Let your imagination go wild. Could the egg be a character in a scene? Or have a specific pattern? Think creatively. The student council will be judging the winners from their paired class. There may even be a large chocolatey prize for the winners.

A reminder about assembly dates:

  • Tuesday 21st March - Year 1 Assembly at 9.10am and 9.35am

  • Friday 31st March - Year 2 Palm Sunday Worship - 9.15am

  • Monday 3rd April - Year 3 The Last Supper Worship - 9.15am

  • Tuesday 4th April - Year 4 Garden of Gethsemane Worship - 9.15am

  • Wednesday 5th April - Year 5 The Crucifixion Worship - 9.15am

  • Thursday 6th April - Year 6 The Resurrection Worship - 9.15am

We hope that you will be able to join us as we make our own journey to the cross.

I always say that we are a learning community. On Monday evening, the staff took part in a 3 hour training session for emergency first aid. There was CPR, bandages, slings and recovery positions all over the place. Thank you to all of the staff who attended their 3 year training, you are continuing to help keep our community safe.

During this term, we are all busy evaluating our curriculum and looking for ways in which it can be tweaked and improved. I have had a lovely week popping in and out of classes; just to see what the children are up to. Year 5 were busy planning their writing ready to write a sci-fi story, Reception have been heading outdoors as part of Ranger School to see what minibeasts they could spot, Year 2 have been learning about the RNLI, ready to write a non-chronological report and Year 3 heard the sound of a Roman army approaching - the Celts had to take cover! The children have all been telling me just what they enjoy about their subjects - and what they can remember. I love seeing learning through the eyes of our children.

Role Models of the Week

Role Models who have demonstrated virtues this week.

Our Whole School learning Role Models for this week.

Attendance

Well done Year 2 with an attendance of 100% - a full house! Our whole school attendance this week is 96.6%.

Office News

As we approach the end of the Spring term (how can that be?) we are just going to ask you to be very helpful, please check where you are at on ParentPay for dinner money payments etc - we have a few historic payments still due for dinners and for trips and it’s such a boost for us if you can clear these before we come with our reminders! It may not seem like it but we promise that our least favourite activity is chasing for money. Believe us, it’s not just you, we have to do this with staff too and we are always apologising for saying ‘Good morning’ and then straight after, trying to collect money!

We’ve had happy news this week which is that Andrew our caretaker has become a dad again for the second time, after a gap of 9 years and he and his lovely wife Deana have had a beautiful baby boy, Deandre. Mum and baby are well which is great news. Congratulations from us all to the Malicdem family!

This button will take you to the Family Network Directory. There is a recent newsletter on it which has links to some Spring events for children and families with additional needs. There are a few key dates and lots of events happening. Why not take a look?

Fingers crossed that the sun continues to shine this weekend. It’s a very special weekend for all the wonderful Mums in our community and we hope that each one of you is celebrated as you deserve. Enjoy this special weekend together with your families.

God Bless

Mrs Gregan

"That's what I consider true generosity: You give your all and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing."

When March arrived, I think we all felt that Spring was most definitely on its way; the dark mornings and evenings would be a thing of the past and all of the bulbs that we had planted would start to bloom. Little did we know that snow would fall and the temperatures would plummet. Despite the bitterness of the weather outside, school has continued to be a place of warmth and light. In this week’s gospel, we are told about Jesus’ Transfiguration. It was through this revelation that Jesus revealed His glorious identity as the Beloved Son of God. In our assembly this morning, we have discussed how God the Father wants us to listen to Jesus and shine with the light of His love. We too can shine during Lent by making time to GIVE, ACT and PRAY.

How ironic, that having talked about the brightness of The Transfiguration, we then woke up this morning to the brightness of a fresh blanket of snow. This caused such excitement and led to a magical time in school. The children had such fun at break time, before the snow melted! We had to make some memories.

Today I have met with the class council to hear about the thoughtful ideas that each class has had in order to raise money for CAFOD. The children have been tasked to be creative and to think of an activity that contributes to the good of our community. We have also got our FOOD BANK up and running in the entrance to school. If you are able to contribute to it, please do pop in and add it to the display. If you have a need for a little extra support, you are very welcome to come and choose some useful items. Just come in as the bank is by the entrance, there is no need to ask anyone, just bring a bag and help yourself to what you need.

Celebrating learning in School

It has been lovely to welcome so many parents from every class into school for ‘book looks’ over the past two weeks. We hope that you have found the experience enjoyable, especially being able to sit down next to your child and for them to share their work. Parents’ Evenings will now be taking place over the next two Wednesdays. There is a still a small % of parents yet to book - please do let us know if we can help in any way. For those children who have an additional learning challenge and are part of our SEN group, Mrs Hotchkiss will be making time to arrange separate appointments on another day. This will give you the opportunity to talk directly to her and share any updates or concerns that you may have. If you feel that you need to speak to Mrs Hotchkiss, please complete the form below. Mrs Hotchkiss will then contact you directly to arrange a time.

Giving the children the opportunity to be creative and expressive is something that we value here in school. Great learning opportunities for now and for later life come from drama, art and music. This week we have had a visiting artist come into school to work alongside our Reception and Key Stage 1 children in the art of origami.

The children had to follow a set of precise instructions in order to make their various projects. Moving into the summer term, we will be holding a painting and print making workshop for our junior children.

‘We are the stuff that dreams are made of.”

Yesterday, our wonderful Year 4 class joined a host of other schools to perform at The Grand Theatre in Blackpool as part of their Shakespeare festival - Sandgrown Shakespeare! They were all just fabulous. The creativity, confidence and resilience of all of the children shone through in their words, actions and facial expressions. We are so very proud of you Year 4!

Role Models of the Week

Role Models who have demonstrated virtues this week.

Our Whole School learning Role Models for this week.

Attendance

Well done Year 4 with an attendance of 99%. Our whole school attendance this week is 97.3%.

Office News

Please bear with us if you ring in towards the end of the afternoon to report changes in pick-up arrangements, delays etc. We go around school delivering messages and updating Class teachers with changes so might not be in the Office to answer the phone. We don’t always get the chance to listen to voicemails after 3pm so it’s best to keep trying to speak to someone to ensure that messages are passed on.

We are finding that some parents are struggling with keeping up to date with activities, clubs, finishing times etc and these should always be accessible on the school website, either under classes or sports or extra curricular activities. If there are last minute changes, we would send a text to update families but we don’t always send texts when it is routine and general information. That will be found on the website and we can only urge you to check it and keep checking it as we have a lot of extra curricular activities and it’s essential that you and your children do not miss out. It also greatly helps staff who are running activities if you can be there promptly to collect the children.

We have been using Forms to get bookings for some clubs - if you find that you can’t book, generally this is because the places have been taken - once the bookings reach the optimum number for that activity, the booking system closes and no further places can be booked.

Extra-Curricular Update

This week, our sporting teams were back up and running for their Spring fixtures. Both the netball and football teams represented the school v St Peters. Both Mr Nay and Miss Lavelle could not speak highly enough about the attitude of the children. Next week, we are playing Hall Park. The netball match will be played at our school - please come and support if you can.

Choir for next week (one week only) will be on Thursday 3.30-4.00pm. This is because the staff have first aid training on Monday night. The choir will be preparing for an event in June where they will be performing at the North Pier - watch this space!

There are a number of holiday clubs happening this Easter. Mr Nay will be running his usual half term club and Antony at Judo Education is running one at Ansdell Primary School on the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th April 2023. Activities include: Judo, Fencing, Archery, Softball plus much much more. Times are from 8.30am - 5.30pm. If this is something that you want to think about or look into, please contact antony@judoeducation.co.uk

Finally…

After ten long and happy years at Our Lady’s our lovely Colette in nursery has decided to hang up her early years boots and seek new challenges away from education. Over the past 10 years Colette has loved and nurtured so many children, it will be a great loss to both early years, education as well as our nursery and wider school community.

I am sure that each and every one of you will feel as upset as we are at losing such a fabulous and valued member of the team, but as Colette says “now is her time” to try something new. We are in awe of her bravery and would like to wish her every success and happiness as she opens a new chapter. I know that you will want to wish Colette the very best of luck as she starts her new adventure. We will miss her dearly and look forward to celebrating her on her final day - Friday 24th March.

Have a lovely weekend with your families

God Bless

Mrs Gregan

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

I feel like we have an awful lot to be grateful for this week. Every single day, and every moment in time, there has been something to smile about. Throughout the week there have been so many acts of kindness shown by the children, in so many different ways. From helping each other in the hall, to caring for each other outside, to supporting one another with learning; the children are reflecting the light of Christ so very brightly. Today we have been visited in assembly by a lovely lady from Brian House, our wonderful local children’s hospice. Lucy came in to school to share details of the incredible work they do there and the loving care they give their children. Through your generosity, their sensory room is being updated and a new wheelchair swing is being bought for their garden.

This Lent, we are raising money for CAFOD through our Lenten boxes and sponsored events which will be happening in school. Each class is currently deciding what they are going to do to fundraise. They have been tasked with creating an event for the greater good. Something that requires time or effort for the good of others. I have heard that Year 6 will be spending time baking cakes for a bake sale; Year 3 will be doing a sponsored walk to Ashton Gardens to litter pick. Our student council also wanted to help our local community and decided that a food bank would be a way to give something to those who need extra support. The donations will be used within the school community and to support the local food bank.

If you would like to donate anything to the food bank, or you need support from the food bank, please do pop into school. It has been created for our community to use.

The food bank is positioned in the area near the office and you can just pop in and pick up any suitable items from the stand - no need to ask anyone or engage - it’s there for you. By next week, we hope to have a good range of foodstuffs so please, do come in and pick up what you need.

On Sunday, our Year 4 Holy Communion children will be welcomed to church in the family mass. Please do attend at 9.30am. Tea and coffee is available after mass for our families to enjoy in the Parish Centre, there will also be some craft for the children. Lazy Sunday is taking place at 12pm, which some of you have tickets for. All are more than welcome to stay for Lazy Sunday, food will only be available to those with a ticket once there.

School Life this week

I cannot do justice with words just how much has been happening in school this week. I have collated photos from all of our events and put them together in a little video. Please visit class pages for more memories. Thank you for all of the wonderful support for the book fair that we have recently held in school. Your contributions will mean that we can buy some new books for our school library - thank you once again!

Book looks are continuing for other classes next week:

  • Monday 6th March - Year 5 Book Look at 9am

  • Monday 6th March - Reception Stay and Play for group 2 at 2.10pm

  • Tuesday 7th March - Year 4 Book Look at 9am

  • Wednesday 8th March - Reception Stay and Play for group 3 at 2.10pm

  • Wednesday 8th March - Year 6 Book Look at 2.30pm.

Please come to the main reception for all of these events and you will be welcomed into the school hall.

Parents Evening - don’t forget to book - 84% already have!

Next half term there will be two opportunities to find out how your child is engaging with their learning. We are taking a hybrid approach to hopefully include everyone - a mixture of in school and virtually. Firstly, there is an invitation to come into school to look at books alongside your child. This will be a lovely opportunity for you to spend some time in school with your child showing you work of which they are really proud.

Secondly there is an opportunity for parents to meet virtually with your child’s teacher. We would like to invite you to a virtual parents’ meeting to discuss your child and to celebrate their achievements. We will be using the same system we used in the Autumn, called SchoolCloud. This will allow you to access the meeting from where ever you are, with no need to wait in school. This can always be tricky, especially if you have multiple children.

This platform has no app for you to install, you simply use your web browser, and you will be automatically connected with the teacher at the time you have booked in the appointment schedule. Each appointment will last ten minutes and start at the allotted time. You will then see the time and count down on the screen. Please note: when the countdown ends, the meeting is automatically closed and the next appointment is started, we have no control over this. Please log in and check the audio and visual before your appointment starts.

Within the program there is a facility to add a note when you book. If there is something specific which you would like to discuss, this will enable you to communicate it to the teacher before the meeting.

The available appointments will be on Wednesday 15th March and Wednesday 22rd March, from 2.00pm-5.30pm. Appointments can be booked from 4pm today by clicking on this link:

School Cloud

When booking, it is crucial that you use your child’s legal forename and surname – those recorded on our school management system. If any part of your child’s name is hyphenated, again it needs to be so when typing in their name. Your own name on Sims is now recorded with one of the following titles Miss, Mrs, Mr or Dr. The system will also ask for an email address so that a reminder can be sent out.

There are two links below which provide support on booking an appointment and how to access the virtual meeting. Please click to find out more.

A GUIDE TO BOOKING APPOINTMENTS

VIDEO APPOINTMENTS GUIDE

If you are struggling, please contact school asap and we can help.

Our Learning and Virtue Role Models

Please visit each class page to see which learning characters these children have demonstrated this week, they really have embodied all of our characters. We are really proud of you!

Role Models who have demonstrated virtues this week.

Our Whole School learning Role Models for this week.

Attendance

Well done Reception with an attendance of 99.3%. Our whole school attendance this week is 96.9%.

Office News

Now that we are in March and the lighter evenings are here, more and more people are walking home so do please ensure that we know that your child has your permission for this. Class teachers and the Office all need to know.

We seem to be having a lot of jumpers, cardigans and tracksuit tops going missing, often when the children are playing outside. They get overheated and remove outer tops - then forget to bring them in. They do get collected but often end up in other classes. It is ESSENTIAL that these items are labelled. Top Marque have some great stick on labels, you can also get very good ones online. Please do ensure you do this as otherwise, the chances of reuniting the garments with your child are slim and we know it is incredibly frustrating for parents, not to mention horribly expensive.

We are having a number of Prime bottles being brought into school - thankfully with water in. However, they are proving to be quite the distraction and managing to sneak out to break and lunch times. Please can I ask that a normal water bottle is brought into school. I understand there is a hype with Prime at the moment, but I would much rather this hype stays outside of the school gates. Thank you for your support with this.

I think a cold snap is on the way, but hopefully the sun will continue to shine. The mornings and the night are much lighter, which makes everyone feel happier. Enjoy the weekend with your family.

God Bless

Mrs Gregan

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”

The sun has most definitely shone at different points this week. Flowers are starting to bloom, the field has been open and there have been more bikes being ridden to school. When popping into Reception, I was immediately taken outside to see a busy team of gardeners getting Reception garden ready. God’s world is beginning to show its vibrant colours once again. Our new virtues for this half term are grateful and generous. We are extremely grateful for the world which we have been given. It is now our responsibility to look after it. We are always trying to find acts of kindness and generosity in our every day school life. I will be on the hunt next week to see what I can find.

With Spring, also comes the Lenten journey to the cross. On Wednesday, Father Peter visited us in school and led two liturgies for Ash Wednesday. The children discussed how our school badge showed that we all belong to our school family. When we receive the cross in ashes on our forehead, this shows that we belong to God’s family. Throughout the week, the children have been swapping their Lenten boxes with their class partners. Such care and thought has gone into each of them - they are really special. We are going to use the boxes to be generous in the giving of time to help one another and the collection of coins to support CAFOD. Each class will also be running a sponsored event. I have heard that a cake sale is being organised.

Parent involvement

We are continuing to welcome parents back into school with a range of workshops that help you to support your children. This week, Year 1 parents came into school to listen to Miss Drummond speak so passionately about phonics. They were then whisked off to class to play some games with their children. It was lovely to see the excitement from all of the children as they tried to trick their parents and catch them out with some funny phonics games. Thank you to you all for getting so involved.

Next week, we will be starting our class book looks. Each child has selected some work that they would like to share with you. Keep an eye on the calendar for your class’s date and times.

  • Monday 27th February 9am - 9.30am - Year 3

  • Tuesday 28th February 9am - 9.30am - Year 2

  • Wednesday 1st March 2.30pm - 3.00pm Year 1

  • Wednesday 1st March 2.10pm - Reception Group 1 Stay and Play in the classroom

On Thursday we also started our Holy Communion programme in school. All of the children, as well as children from other schools, started to prepare for the sacraments alongside their class teachers and adults. Father Peter and myself met with the parents in another room to explain the programme and continue their own journey of faith.

Parents Evening - don’t forget to book - 60% already have!

Next half term there will be two opportunities to find out how your child is engaging with their learning. We are taking a hybrid approach to hopefully include everyone - a mixture of in school and virtually. Firstly, there is an invitation to come into school to look at books alongside your child. This will be a lovely opportunity for you to spend some time in school with your child showing you work of which they are really proud.

Secondly there is an opportunity for parents to meet virtually with your child’s teacher. We would like to invite you to a virtual parents’ meeting to discuss your child and to celebrate their achievements. We will be using the same system we used in the Autumn, called SchoolCloud. This will allow you to access the meeting from where ever you are, with no need to wait in school. This can always be tricky, especially if you have multiple children.

This platform has no app for you to install, you simply use your web browser, and you will be automatically connected with the teacher at the time you have booked in the appointment schedule. Each appointment will last ten minutes and start at the allotted time. You will then see the time and count down on the screen. Please note: when the countdown ends, the meeting is automatically closed and the next appointment is started, we have no control over this. Please log in and check the audio and visual before your appointment starts.

Within the program there is a facility to add a note when you book. If there is something specific which you would like to discuss, this will enable you to communicate it to the teacher before the meeting.

The available appointments will be on Wednesday 15th March and Wednesday 22rd March, from 2.00pm-5.30pm. Appointments can be booked from 4pm today by clicking on this link:

School Cloud

When booking, it is crucial that you use your child’s legal forename and surname – those recorded on our school management system. If any part of your child’s name is hyphenated, again it needs to be so when typing in their name. Your own name on Sims is now recorded with one of the following titles Miss, Mrs, Mr or Dr. The system will also ask for an email address so that a reminder can be sent out.

There are two links below which provide support on booking an appointment and how to access the virtual meeting. Please click to find out more.

A GUIDE TO BOOKING APPOINTMENTS

VIDEO APPOINTMENTS GUIDE

If you are struggling, please contact school asap and we can help.

Our Learning and Virtue Role Models

Please visit each class page to see which learning characters these children have demonstrated this week, they really have embodied all of our characters. We are really proud of you!

Role Models who have demonstrated virtues this week.

Our Whole School learning Role Models for this week.

Attendance

Office News

We do so appreciate you letting us know when your child is being picked up by someone else - now that we are running more clubs and after school activities, we can get a little flustered if we are told that a child is going home with someone else’s parents and we haven’t been notified. If we have advance notice, it makes life so much easier and avoids us making anxious phone calls to check. Sometimes it can be very hectic in the office at the end of the day and getting messages to class can take a little longer.

Dinner Money for this half-term is £81.60 - that is for 34 meals - each is still £2.40.

Well done Year 5!

This week, our whole school attendance is 97.7%.

Coming in and leaving school each day

Thank you so much for your approach to the end of the day routines. It has been really lovely to welcome parents and grandparents onto the playground each night. Community spirit is essential and what we all live for - it is something that we craved for so long during the pandemic. Based on the success of this week - I am just going to tweak things slightly:

  • We are reducing the time between the two picks up to keep it in line with the stagger in the morning. Therefore Harcourt and Marsden will be picked up at 3.20pm. Plessington and Bamber will be picked up at 3.25pm. This should give enough time for the roads to be quieter before the second group leave. The teachers know to let the first group of children leave before the second. Please be prepared to wait a little bit longer if you arrive early.

  • All bikes and scooters need to be taken to Kenilworth Road in the morning and then picked up from there at night. I would be really grateful if we can avoid bringing the bikes and scooters onto the playground. The paths are narrow in and out of school and it helps to avoid any accidents. Can we exit via Kenilworth Road on bikes and scooters. Thank you.

  • The bike shed is open first thing in the morning. If your child is attending a club before school, please drop off anything with wheels there first.

Book Week

World Book Day always brings so much excitement. We cannot wait to celebrate reading with all of the children. The book fair has been a real success this week; there is another opportunity on Monday morning from 8.15am - 8.30am to view and buy books. We are missing a number of our school library books. Please can you check all of your books at home and bring into school any that you know belong to our school library.

The sun has most definitely been shining this week. Let’s pray that the sun continues to shine and the spring brings lots of happiness. Have a lovely and restful weekend with your families.

God Bless

Mrs Gregan

'Learning to love yourself, is the greatest love of all.'

When we are in a dark room, we turn on the light so that we can see all that is around us. Sometimes this darkness can be when we feel worried, confused or even just too busy - we cannot see clearly. This week in school, we have been hearing about how Jesus called his twelve disciples and how he called them to follow his light. In the darkness that we often feel, we can also turn on the light to the brightest light of all - Jesus! Jesus has called us all to be His disciples and to walk from the darkness into the light of God’s love. Our Year 1 display in our worship area illustrates this message beautifully! Next Tuesday, we are being visited in school by The Yogi Group. The children will all be taking part in a mental health workshop; working on their mindfulness, breathing and developing techniques where they remain calm. We look forward to sharing with you what we have learnt.

One of my priorities this year is for the children to visit Father Peter at church more and for him to return to classes as well. It fills my heart with joy that so many of our children attend mass each weekend, they know Father Peter well and understand how special our church community is. Father Peter has spoken about his need for more altar servers. Due to the pandemic, it has been a few years since we have asked the children to get involved with this programme. In assembly this morning, I asked all children from Year 3 - Year 6 to consider whether they would apply to be an altar server. Those who are interested will be taking an application form and working alongside Father Peter to understand more about the role.

Mrs Gregan’s Week in School

By taking on this new role, I knew my heart would be longing to be back in the classroom from time to time. I love being with the children and to see the excitement that learning brings. All of the classes have been inviting me into class to experience a lesson with them. I have had the most wonderful time visiting Year 4, Reception and Year 3 this week. If you click on the photo gallery, you can see some of my favourite learning moments.

‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on,’ so says William Shakespeare. I was mesmerised watching Year 4 bring their interpretation to life in the hall on Tuesday - we are all in for a real treat when they take to the stage at The Grand in March. I also witnessed a heart-felt worship around kindness where they posed the question, What is Jesus asking us to do? The answer is simple; be kind and love one another.

I was really excited to see a huge envelope that had been written with my name on it. In the envelope was an invitation to visit Reception and take part in their Drawing Club. Drawing is a passion of mine so I was really excited to visit and see what the children have been up to. Using Room on the Broom as their stimulus, the children have been deciding what animals to include on their broom stick and they also linked in their phonics with the ‘th’ sound. I loved my visit - when can I come back Reception? Such independence at such a young age. We can all learn a lot from our Reception children.

Our Year 3 children are in the midst of their Arctic unit of work. I could not believe the amount of knowledge that they have gathered. Using their mini white boards, the children could tell me why it was cold there, recalled the animals that lived there and how they knew that the Arctic had no land underneath it. I even found out that there is a bear there called the Pizzly Bear (thank you Finley). Using their knowledge, they then set about writing their own non-chronological reports. I am really excited to visit again next week and to read the finished report.

Our Learning and Virtue 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!

Our Whole School Learning Role Models

Roles Models who have demonstrated our virtues this week.

Learned and Wise butterflies

Each half term, the staff in school look for children who celebrate our virtues. These children are given a butterfly in recognition of their actions. This half term we are on the lookout for all the children that are learned in their actions, finding God in all things. Those who are wise, who use their learning for the common good. These children are the role models of the school. I see so many children who live and breathe our virtues on a daily basis as I witness life in school; therefore I am awarding my own butterflies. This week I awarded three butterflies. All of these children have made wise choices about themselves and others. Thank you children.

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. We already have lots of parents signed up for this. Please do come along if you are free. It is a really good opportunity to come into school and to have a discussion about factors that are impacting on your children’s life.

Attendance

Office News

Thank you all for the constant communication that you have with the school office. Our whole school attendance is much higher this week. You are letting us know what illnesses your children have and then keeping them off for the required period of time. This is ensuring that those pesky germs do not spread.

Well done Reception!

This week, our whole school attendance is 97.6% - well done everyone! We are above our 97% target. Keep up the good work. Let’s see if we can break the 98% mark next week.

We have had some reports of our pupils not being sensible when walking to school in the morning, or when waiting un-supervised at the school gate in the morning. In assembly, Mrs Gregan spoke to the children about the need to be safe. Children should not be running into the road or trying to cross the road multiple times. The traffic around school is quieter since we decided to have a staggered opening, this was one of the main reasons we kept it. However, we are worried for the children’s safety. Please could you reiterate this message at home with your children. We will be keeping a close eye on it at school.

As January comes to an end, we are hoping that the spring flowers come into bloom and sunshine becomes more of a permanent feature each day. Have a lovely weekend with your family. We look forward to seeing you all next week.

God Bless

Mrs Gregan

Upcoming industrial action

I am sure that you are all aware that there will be upcoming industrial action taken by members of the teaching profession regarding pay. On 16 January the National Education Union (NEU), one of the trade unions representing the teaching profession, announced its intention to strike.

It is my responsibility as head to take reasonable steps, ensuring that the school remains open for as many pupils as possible. I have received full guidance from the Department of Education and will be responding appropriately.

The information that I have currently received, and the plans that have been created, indicates that Our Ladys will remain open to all pupils next Wednesday. However, the delicate nature of the issue means that this may change. I will of course inform you of any developments if and when they arise.

Of course, if you have any further questions, please do get in touch.

God bless

Mrs Gregan

'Someone else will come, who is greater than I am.' John the Baptist

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

'Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.'

Our first full week back in school has been incredibly busy, not just for the children, but for the staff as well. Our Lady’s is a learning community in every sense of the word. We are all constantly striving to be the best versions of ourselves; which is never easy, in fact it is a lifetime’s work. I am not sure that we will ever get there but we travel hopefully. I have spotted children modelling our new virtues for this half term, (being learned and wise), all over school - in lessons, on the playground and in the interactions I have witnessed.

Just like the children, the staff are always looking for ways to be the best support they can be for the children in their care. What opportunities can we provide that will excite the children and help them to continue to grasp those key learning skills that will help them make progress. This week: Mrs Lyons has been learning all about Shakespeare and how she can bring The Tempest to life in the Year 4 classroom, Mrs Hartley has been looking at mastery of number for our youngest children and Mrs Hotchkiss has been working with other schools to improve how we deliver maths at Our Lady’s. It is always good to look out and see what others are doing too.

I have spent some of my week doing just what I love to do, being with the children. I have had the pleasure of visiting Reception, Year 1 and Year 5 this week; it has brought me such joy. I was involved in a very serious science lesson in Year 1 - just what material would be the best material to build a house for the three little pigs? In Reception and Year 5, I led a class council to see just what the pupils think about our school. I asked them the following questions:

  • What makes you PROUD to belong to Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Primary?

  • What do we do well that we could do MORE of?

  • What could we THINK ABOUT?

  • What would you INTRODUCE to the school to enhance our community?

It is clear that our children really know and understand our community, in fact, their answers were profound, although I am not sure we could introduce a swimming pool onto the field. I explained that it is really important to listen to everybody’s ideas, however, we have to be selective about which ones we implement for the benefit of our community. The staff have also been asked the same questions and we will be asking our parents and governors the same in the coming weeks - so get thinking! Everyone needs to have their voice heard in order to continue to nurture the community. Let’s see what we can continue to grow.

‘Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships.’

On Monday, a group of dedicated and focused footballers attended the Fylde Girls Football Tournament held at AKS. This is the first time that we have entered the event - and I am so glad that we did. Over recent years, it is clear that girls’ football is growing. Our lionesses have proven to be incredible role models nationally, well, I can tell you that this group of girls are incredible role models too. Not only did they win the tournament, they won it with positivity, laughter and kindness. As ambassadors of our school, this makes me proud. Today, the girls have been in Fleetwood representing Fylde at the Lancashire Schools Final. I cannot wait to update you on their achievements next week. Thank you Mr Cornwell and Mr Nay for giving up your time to give the girls this opportunity.

Our youngest children in school attended their first after school club this week. 15 excited children joined Mr Nay in the hall to take part. As we start the second term in school, all classes have now had chance to access extra-curricular clubs - this is fantastic.

Judo has also started this morning for KS2. We have been inundated with requests to join. All 60 of this term’s places quickly went, but do not worry, the club will be running all year and those who missed out this term will be allocated places in the summer term.

Sacramental Programme

It is always such a special time of the year when we can start to prepare our Year 4 children to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation and Holy Communion. After meeting Father Peter, we have put in all of the dates for the parents’ sessions and the children’s sessions in school, which can now be found on the Year 4 class page and the dates section of the website. If there are any other families in the parish who have children who need to receive the sacrament, please contact the school office so we can send all of the details to you and involve you in the programme.

Father Peter has also asked us to look for new altar servers for our parish. Any child from Year 3 upwards can be an altar server and support Father Peter during Mass. I will be visiting classes over the next few weeks and discussing how the children can apply to Father Peter.

Bringing things into school…

It is inevitable that with the cold, wet and windy weather that we have been experiencing recently, we have seen an increase in chapped lips and dry skin. This has resulted in lots of lip balms (of different flavours and colours) being brought into school as well as cream for dry skin. We have found that children have been sharing lip balms, which is causing skin break outs and the transference of germs from one child to another. If your child can manage without a lip balm or dry skin cream in school, please do keep these at home as they are beginning to prove a distraction. If they are needed in school, then they will be given to the class teacher at the start of the day to monitor their use. Please email the class teacher if you are sending a lip balm into school so that they are aware. Cream is classified as a medical item and therefore needs to come in via the school office with a completed medicine form, clearly stating how it needs to be administered throughout the day.

During the pandemic, we adopted some clear hygiene routines in school to try and keep our children and staff as safe as possible. These routines have continued with all of the children sanitising their hands at regular intervals in the day. There have been some stubborn bugs around lately that we are trying to keep at bay. We have enough sanitiser in school, therefore there is also no need to send in sanitiser with your children.

Office News

The Office doesn’t have much to report this week! We are struggling still with some dinner payments and will be texting - one or two debts are creeping up so please, any parents in that situation, heed the text and pay up as we don’t want to suspend any dinner accounts.

We are very sorry that some people, we’re thinking Year 5 here, have been waiting for badges - they will be coming shortly and we are sorry for the delay.

Re Admissions - we hopefully have all the Supplementary Forms in and hope that you’ve all completed the LCC online application process. If not, you still have time - but hurry - Sunday 15th January is the cut-off. Please ensure that you have applied online for a place in Reception for September 2023 and, if anyone has outstanding supplementary forms do bring them to the Office ASAP. Many thanks.

Attendance

Well done Reception. You have managed to just pip a few other classes this week. Our whole school attendance from the beginning of September is 96.9%, just short of our 97% whole school attendance target. Keep going everyone!

Finally

In a few weeks time, we will be taking part in national online safety day. Next week, I will be launching a whole school film competition for the event. On Thursday 9th February, 9am, we will be hosting a parent event where you can be updated in the latest online safety issues, as well as being able to ask your own questions. I am sure there may also be some drinks and cakes as well! Online Safety is a growing issue in our community amongst our young people, therefore it is important to be as updated as we possibly can.

We will also be starting a Word Wizards club across the school. This will entail supporting children with their reading and writing, via some very exciting tasks! Parent drop in sessions will be available as part of this so that you too can grow your understanding of how to support your children at home.

It is a wonderful feeling to be opening up our school again to our parents and providing opportunities for you to come in.

Have a wonderful weekend

God bless,

Mrs Gregan