"Love one another as I have loved you."

Next week, we will be walking down to church to hear the most important commandment of all:

“Love one another as I have loved you.”

This may seem easy enough to say, but how do we act it out on a daily basis through our words and actions. How easy is it to truly love each other? How can we demonstrate this freely? On Thursday, Father Peter will tell us all the Gospel reading of the Ascention; the time when Jesus left us on this earth to bring his kingdom of God alive through the lessons that he had taught us. We hope that you will be able to join us for our school mass.

Another period of time has just started with the arrival of May; the month of Mary. Being Our Lady Star of the Sea, this is a special month to us as we share in the lessons we can learn from her. A vital part of this is the rosary. In assembly today, I shared with the children a set of rosary beads that I was given by my auntie and uncle on my Holy Communion; ones that I still use to this day. Over the next few weeks, the children will be praying the rosary in their classes. Could you use the time at home to devote time to the rosary too?

School Developments…

Over the next few months, there will be some building work taking place at school. This will span into the summer holidays and beyond. When our kitchen was built, it was only built for 40 dinners; we are now nearer 160 dinners each day. Because of this increase in numbers, we need an increase in size - which is very exciting for Jacqui our wonderful cook. You will start to see a few bricks being laid as we double the size of our current kitchen, making it fit for purpose.

Another area of school which we are looking to develop is the area of land to the left of the allotment on the field. This is a dense area and one that can be used in lots of different ways. To do this, we need your help.

  • Do you know someone who could help us prepare the ground of this area?

  • Have you worked with someone who you would recommend to the school?

  • Have you got some spare time on your hands where you could support our school?

We need a committed team of gardeners who can help us achieve our vision of what this space should look like.

The plan is to remove the brambles and nettles that have grown and prepare the ground for a canopy area to be made with log seating. We want to create our own forest school area. If you know someone who could help, please do email me at head@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk

We really need your help to get this project off the ground and made into something that our whole school community will benefit from.

Enrichment

I have loved seeing the children and staff interact differently this year. Each half-term, the children have visited a different area of the school, and a different teacher, to learn something new. I think the teachers have enjoyed it more than the children. This week:

Recpetion visited the allotment with Mrs Hotchkiss; Year 1 completed some Van Gogh inspired craft with Mrs Naylor; Year 2 made some pasta salad with Mrs Lyons; Year 3 tackled team games with Mr Cornwell; Year 4 went all Strictly and learnt the waltz alongside Mrs Harrison; Year 5 visited Mrs Hartley and learnt German and Year 6 built some sedementary rocks with Miss Drummond in science.

Learning is all about the wider experiences. How can we encourage our children to experience more and therefore learn more?

Learning Role Models of the Week

Virtue Butterflies - Children being Learned and Wise

Learning Role Models

Walk to School in May

A huge thank you to EVERYONE who has made such an effort with walking, scooting, cycling and any other none car way to get to school. It has been quieter at the start and at the end of the school day around the gates. I am parking much further away from school and walking whilst my little one scoots. This is about a big team effort which we are so good at here!

We understand that it isn’t possible to do this every day, and that is fine, little and often is great. Even parking at the end of the road and walking for 2 minutes to school counts - it keeps our roads much quieter. What we want is to create quieter roads for those children who need to be brought in by car each day and for our Year 5 & 6 children who walk to and from school.

Data has been collected this week and the winning classes will have £50 donated to them for them to spend how they wish - hopefully to encourage more exercise in their class. This week, our winning classes were Year 3 & 4 who both had a total of 53 walks over the past three days.

Let’s see how many we can get walking next week!

Thank you to this week’s student counsellors who were giving flyers at the gate this week. They are being really proactive with their approach to our safer roads. Next week we will have a new batch of children with their flyers ready to go!

Office news…

We have one plea from the office for this week. If your child has a medical appointment or is delayed coming into school for any reason, please can you ring ahead with their dinner choices. We have to submit dinner numbers to our kitchen by 9.30am and if children are arriving in after that, we are then finding our numbers are skewed. Thank you so much for your support with this.

Our Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 2 this week with 99.3%. Our whole school attendance for this week is 96.3%

Next week we will be announcing two fundraising events that will be taking place in the Summer term for causes very close to our heart.

A bank holiday weekend is always welcome. I hope you enjoy your weekend and extra day on Monday. We look forward to welcoming you back to school on Tuesday.

Have a lovely weekend with your families.

God bless

Mrs Gregan

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me."

In this Sunday’s Gospel, we will hear about The Good Shepherd; someone who knows their sheep and their sheep know them. Someone who will always seek out the sheep who need their support and love the most; someone who will go out of their way to ensure that their sheep return. This is what Jesus does to us.

It seems fitting that this Sunday in church, Father Peter will be sharing this Gospel message with us on the week of his 50th anniversary of ordination, 10 of which have been spent at our parish. Father Peter does not like fuss, or any form of compliment; he simply sees himself as a servant of our faith and that it has been his vocation in life to act on the will of Christ. I cannot think of someone more who deserves the celebrations and gratitude that will be coming his way this week. On Thursday morning, we will be walking down to church to celebrate the start of his jubilee, just in the way that he will want it; through prayer, scripture and song. It would be wonderful if as many as our school community that we can fit inside the church came - please do join us if you are able to. The children will be walking down at 9.05am from school, we will desperately need walkers to support us. These events happen very rarely in anyone’s life or the life of a priest. Let’s make it a true celebration for someone who gives us so much of himself.

There is an event in the Parish Centre for Father Peter next Sunday afternoon. I know that many of you will already be going. Please see the parish newsletter for more information.

Learning Role Models of the Week

Virtue Butterflies - Children being Learned and Wise

Learning Role Models

There has been so much learning taking place in school this week. I have loved popping in and out of classes; hearing all of the wonderful experiences and opportunities that are coming the children’s way. I walked into the Year 1 classroom the other day to see the table tops full of different types of food. The children were having to work out, through scientific clues, if the food was a fruit or a vegetable. Year 5 are fully involved in their crime and punishment unit of work, exploring the laws of our country and making some discoveries of their own. They have also walked down to Hope Street Park today to see the bulbs that were planted by their hands last year. Year 6 are working so very hard preparing for their end of year assessments - I have had the pleasure of teaching them this week and will do next week. Year 2 children have got an exciting week planned next week as they take on Shakespeare. Please have a look at the website blogs that the teachers have written to share your child’s learning with you.

With the arrival of the sunshine (we hope) comes the start of the gardening club again in school. Mrs Mather and her little helpers have been busy preparing the ground, moving soil and planting potatoes this week. We are really hoping that we can update the outside grounds further this summer and may need a team of able parent helpers to support and project manage. Watch this space for how you can get involved!

Our Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 3 this week with 99.7%. Our whole school attendance for this week is 96.2%.

Attendance Update…

My attendance officer came to see me this week for my termly update and check in. He is always happy with our attendance figures and how we work together as a community to ensure that any leave of absence is reduced to a minimum.

Whilst he was here, we looked at the new attendance guidance that will become statutory in September. These are some of the main points to be mindful of:

  • A child’s attendance will be analysed every 10 weeks to ensure that they meet level of attendance that is required in school.

  • Holiday requests will be on a rolling analysis for 3 years. For example, if you ask for a holiday out of school, in the 1st year, there will be a penalty notice. If this is repeated, in the 2nd year, the penalty notice will be issued but it will be at the highest amount. In the 3rd year, it will be legal action.

The government are really promoting high attendance and trying to crack down on term time holidays. The guidance will be really clear. I will share this in more detail as we approach the summer holidays. I am planning on developing a termly newsletter with key information for you going forward.

We are still urging people to park safely around the school perimeter and to monitor their speed on their approach to the school. Being in a residential area means the roads are narrow and often congested. Please be mindful of this in the coming weeks.

The school calendar for this term is now populated on the main page. There is lots of opportunites for the children and events taking place. I am currently working on the calendar for 2024/2025 with the hope of releasing all of the important dates and events for the year in September. You will also receive the holiday list for the following academic year, giving you plenty of time to get your diaries organised for the year ahead. Hopefully the more notice we can give you on things, the more available that you will be.

Have a lovely weekend with your families.

God bless

Mrs Gregan

“Repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations. You are witnesses to this.”

At the beginning of this week, we met as a school community to reflect on the events of Easter; the sadness of the crucifixion, the anger felt at Gethsemane and the hope in the resurrection. Quite often, we feel sombre thinking about these times, when in fact, we should be feeling grateful. We have now moved into Eastertide - a period of celebration. As belivers and witnesses to the resurrection of the Lord, we now have the responsiblity to share this far and wide; to the ends of the earth. We all have the fire in us to be that change that we want to see in the world. I have set the children a mission to become witnesses. Can they really spot what is happening in our world and around them; identifying the disciples amongst us all.

Prayer and llitrugy is central to school life. We are passionate about providing the children with calm spaces where they can spend time with God. Over half term, our Worship Area has been decorated to ensure that the children have a beautiful space to write their prayers - this week we have been inundated and the prayer board is filled. You may also spot that the canvases that we had have been replaced by perspex ones, giving us space to add some black and white images depicted Holy Week - they are of our children.

We have also introduced our new virtues for this half-term; being learned and wise. Can the children use what they know to to make wise and informed choices?

How can home and school work together?

For as long as I have taught, home-learning has always been one of those things where we try and create an approach that aims to suit all ways of family life. In the middle of it all are the children and how we can all best support them with their learning to become the very best versions of themselves. Research shows that the more involved parents are with their child’s learning, the more progress they will make and the more confident children will feel with the skills that we need to teach. Practise is everything, the more we can repeat things, the more confident they will then feel applying these across the curriculum. We are also incredibly mindful of how precious family life is and the amount of time that the children are active outside of school. At the end of each school year, home learning is the one thing that is commented on the most by families.

With all of this in mind, we have created a new home-learning approach that will hopefully have something for everybody. Each week, the teachers will put set home-learning on their web blogs that is specific to the key skills that your children will need to be confident across all areas of the curriculum. This will focus on reading, spelling, handwriting and maths. In addition to this, they will also share a half-termly grid which has optional homework on. These are things that the children can choose to do to enhance their learning further. Some of them may have a creative aspect for those children who love to make, others may require you to head out as a family, some will be gathering facts. In addition, the teachers will also pop a conversation question on for you to discuss as a family around the dinner table, before bed, on a car journey - you can choose. This will link to previous learning or learning that is coming up. It will enable you to have a chat as a family without the need to record anything formally.

I have attached our new policy below so you can see in more detail what home learning will look like at Our Lady Star of the Sea.

Learning in school covers a vast amount of areas, and this week two have really stood out for me. We use Times Table Rockstars to ensure that our multiplication speed is high. Knowledge of times tables is key to accessing other areas of the maths curriculum. Currently, Dominic is top of our school leaderboard, being able to answer questions in 0.45seconds - unbelievable. Watch his screen recording below to see how fast he actually is. This speed is what we want to all aspire to gain - can you do it? A new Rockstars display will be going up in school so we can celebrate the wonderful work our children are doing - some have managed to turn their heatmap completely green!

We have also had our Year 6’s taking part in ‘Come Dine with Me’ for their DT Food Tech unit of work. This week it was the turn of the main courses with salmon featuring as the key ingredient.

I have had the pleasure of sampling salmon spaghetti and salmon tacos today - both absolutely delicious!

Learning Role Models of the Week

Virtue Butterflies - Children being Learned and Wise

Learning Role Models

Our Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 2 this week - 99.3% attendance!

Next week, we will be spending time getting the website up to date with Summer Term dates for your diary. Please do keep an eye on what is happening. Extra-curricular clubs have started today with judo and archery, for the very first time. Next week sees cricket starting for all classes from Year 1. Thank you to everyone who has signed up.

Finally, I text out this week regarding the parking around school being dangerous. A number of cars are parking on double yellows and specifically on the corners near the gates to school. This has huge implications for our children who cannot cross the road safely. Some of our older children walk home by themselves, they cannot do this if it is dangerous outside. I have spoken with Fylde police this week who are going to monitor this and do some stop-bys to ensure that the roads around school are safe. They will be working with our student council to ensure that we have crossings on Church Road, but that our children and families can come to and from school safely. We need your support with this matter. The weather is getting better (we hope) please park away from school and walk that little bit further in. Thank you.

Have a lovely weekend with your families.

God bless

Mrs Gregan

"“Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here."

Holy Week is the most important week in the liturgical calendar, but it too is the most important week in our school. Each day this week, we have been touched deeply by the performance of our children as they have told the story of Jesus’s passion. From the peace at The Last Supper, to the anguish of Gethsemane. The dispair of the Crucifixion, to the hope in the Resurrection. I hope that those of you who came to see it felt it deeply. I am so proud of the children and the teaching team who created the memories of this week. The photographs below speak for themselves. During the holidays, our Worship Area is being decorated. We will be proudly displaying some of these photos as a symbol of our faith.

Over the past few days, Mrs Shields has been busy counting the lenten box money. So far, we have raised over £1200 for CAFOD. We will update you with the final total after half term.

At the end of each term, I like to share with you the prayer and liturgy from the term. It is so important to me that we come together as a whole school community; our prayer and liturgy is central to this. Shine Jesus Shine has been a firm favourite for sure!

Learning Role Models of the Week

In the midst of such a busy day, our certificate and virtue winners did not have their photos taken. We will do this on the first day back.

We had our first parent virtue winner - Mrs Couch who has taken our chicks home to be rehomed. Thank you for your generousity. The chicks have been a really welcomed addition to our school community this half-term. The children have loved seeing them grow from being born.

Our Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 3 & 1 who are our winners for the term!

Finally, we had our very first Our Lady Easter Egg Hunt today. The Easter Bunny kindly dropped off 240 chocolate eggs, each with a child’s name on, that all needed to be found somewhere in the school gardens. It was enormous fun!

We look forward to welcoming you back to school on Monday 8th April at 8.45am, ready for our Summer Term.

Have a lovely weekend with your families. We wish you a very happy Easter.

God bless

Mrs Gregan

“Deep within them, I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts.”

In assembly this week, we talked about a sense of belonging. Who do we belong to? What does it mean to belong? Why is it important to belong? Through the covenant that God shared with us; his son Jesus, we too belong to the Christian community. Next week, we will start to see that covenant come to life as our children share their portrayal of Holy Week. This is such a special time of the liturgical and school year which we urge you to attend if you can. Starting next Friday, there will be five opportunites to see the story of Holy Week unfold:

  • Friday 22nd March - Palm Sunday told by Year 2

  • Monday 25th March - The Last Supper told by Year 3

  • Tuesday 26th March - Garden of Gethsemane told by Year 4

  • Wednesday 27th March - The Crucifixion told by Year 5

  • Thursday 28th March - The Resurrection told by Year 6

Each portrayal will start at 9.15am in the school hall. These assemblies are part of our prayer and liturgy in school and the children will come into the hall having started that in class. Please use this time to reflect yourselves. We are often so busy in our lives, this is the perfect opportunity to be silent and calm.

You may remember that a few weeks ago I shared the images of the beautiful Stations of the Cross that each class had designed and made. It was so lovely to see so many of you admire them as part of book looks. Next Friday, 22nd March, instead of our whole-school assembly, the school hall and chapel will be open for you to come and visit for yourselves. The lights will be dim and there will be the opportunity for you to use the images to pray the stations of the cross. Following this, the chapel will be open to see the prayer station in there. Many of you will not have been in our chapel before. If you are able to, please do come into school next Friday at 2.30pm - we would love to see you.

Learning Role Models of the Week

Learners of the Week

Learners of the Week

Demonstrating our virtues - loving and compassionate

Nursery Consultation

I have really enjoyed the many conversations that I have had about the planned nursery conversion taking place and what a wonderful opportunity it is. Don’t forget that the consultation window is open if you have any questions at all.

Our Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 4 - 98.1% Our whole school attendance this week is 95.7%

Office News

Trips are the perfect opportunity for you to get involved as parents and grandparents. Our classes need a certain number of adults for ratios, and we need you to make that happen. If you see a trip pop up on your child’s class page and adult support is needed, please do get involved. Trips are magical and the children have so much fun. We have a number of grandparents who support all trips in school. If you are someone who could do that and be a support for trips beyond your child’s classroom - or you have a grandparent who could - please complete this form below so that we can add you to our school contact. Thank you all so much.

Today, we had a large group of parents and grandparents who have supported our Year 1 and 2 children on their trips to the beach and Blackpool Zoo.

Please do fill in the form below if you are able to help and support.

Our wonderful Year 1 helpers who braved the windy weather on St Beach this morning; all for the good of a spot of geography fieldwork.

Thank you to all of the parents who attended our first parents’s evening this week. The conversation between school and home is so important. There are so many ways in which we can help the children become the best versions of themselves; the conversation that you have with your child’s teacher will help that. The staff team in this school are remarkable and go above and beyond for the children and families here. We are incredibly blessed.

In the final week of the term, I will be sharing our new approach to homework. This follows on from the comments that we receive at the end of the academic year when reports go out. We hope that this new way will allow you to focus on the skills that the children need, whilst allowing the wider curriculum to be acknowledged too.

I am so proud of the things that the children do beyond school and the confidence that they show in lots of different ways. Next weekend, a large number of our children will be performing in Alice in Wonderland at our Parish Centre. If wasn’t away with netball, I would be requesting a front row seat as I know how brilliant this performance will be. If you are able to attend, please do. Click on the link below to take you to the booking’s page.

Don’t forget about the number of events that are taking place this half-term to support you with the wrap-around care that you may need. CN Active are running their sports camp at Heyhouses School, with places really limited now. Do book if you need a space.

In assembly today, we had a fabulous display of irish dancing by Rosa. In celebration of St Patrick’s Day, Rosa performed beautifully for us all to The Lord of the Dance.

Have a lovely weekend and happy St Patrick’s Day to all of you who commemorate it.

God bless

Mrs Gregan

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

What does the word rejoice mean to you? What do you rejoice about? What brings you joy and how do you share this joy with others? These are the questions that we have been exploring in assembly today and that will form discussion as part of our prayer and liturgy next week. This week in church is Laetare Sunday - which means to rejoice. It marks the half-way point in Lent and we know that Jesus’s resurrection is not far away. I have loved hearing how the children are collecting money at home for their lenten boxes; there has been allsorts going on. From car washing, to setting the table, to reading to siblings; all of those little acts of kindness will go a long way to supporting the work of CAFOD.

Last night, we welcomed the parents and grandparents of our Year 4 communicants into school so that they could meet with Father Peter and discuss their own faith. The focus of the session was forgiveness and confession. Together, they discussed their own experiences of confession and why forgiveness can sometimes be tricky. Thank you to all of those who attended. We hope it gave you time to reflect and enabled you to have conversations with your family at home.

World Book Day

It certainly is one of our favourite days of the year! A day when all of the work that we do around reading comes to life and we have a little fun along the way dressing up. Reading is the central spine of our curriculum - the more we read the more we know and the more we can apply to other areas of the curriculum. But, there is so much more to just the words. A story can be told through images, through words and through emotions. In the afternoon, our storytelling ambassadors visited each class to hear the wonderful stories that had be written by them. Please visit each class page to see the fun that was had. The photos below are just a snippet of the fun that we all had over the course of the day!

To celebrate World Book Day, we invited Mrs Newell in from the local library to present our GOLD winner! We are so proud of you and the 50 books that you have read at the age of 5. To achieve this is remarkable. I believe you are starting the trail all over again.

Being creative is something that we love here in school and celebrating the arts is something that we are passionate about. On Tuesday afternoon, our choir headed off to Lowther Pavillion to join a number of other schools in The Big Sing. It is the first time that we have taken part in the event - it was beautiful. Together with the other choirs, our children sang songs from around the world in preparation for this Summer’s Olympics. Thank you firstly to the children for commiting your time to make sure that we could send children to represent us. Thank you to Miss Drummond and Miss Woodend who have worked with the choir this year and to Mrs Carter who supported the children on the day. In fact, our staff were singled out for being the most enthusiastic and for getting fully involved. Thank you to all of the friends and family who came to support the children; I hope you had goose-bumps, just like I did!

Parents’s Meetings and Book Looks

There was another group of book looks this week as we welcomed parents and grandparents into school to share the wonderful work that their children have completed this year. There has been a journey through school from Reception to Year 6 and clearly so much work to be proud of. We hope that you have enjoyed sitting with your child and for them to talk about their work. If you didn’t get chance to attend, please do contact your class teacher and they will arrange a time for you to come and have a look at your children’s books.

Next week, parents’s evenings will start and the teachers are very much looking forward to sharing your child’s learning journey with you. Thank you to everyone who has made an appointment, there is still time if you haven’t and class teachers will be touching base with you to do so.

The available appointments will be on:

Wednesday 13th March - from 2.00pm until 5.20pm (for all classes)

Wednesday 20th March - from 2.00pm until 5.20pm (for all classes apart from Year 4 due to Shakespeare)

Tuesday 26th March - from 2.00pm until 5.20pm (just for Year 4 parents)

Appointments can be booked by clicking on this link below.

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.

Learning Role Models of the Week

Learners of the Week

Demonstrating our virtues - loving and compassionate

Nursery Consultation Request

We are incredibly lucky to have a nursery attached to our school. Every single day, I see the beauty of this environment and how it is a place where the children are encouraged to be, to explore and to grow. It is pure magic! As long as the nursery has been here, it has been a private nursery, but very much part of school life in how it operates on a daily basis. We have therefore made the decision that we would like to bring nursery into school officially, rather than remain as a private setting. From September 2024, we are planning on lowering our age range to include 3 year olds from nursery. I have attached a consultation letter below that explains what we are planning to do, and therefore opening to consultation window. The benefits that we have of having a nursery within the school can only be greater by this inclusion. It is a really exciting time and another opportunity to grow our school community further.

Summer is coming

With the arrival of the daffodills in school, there is a clear indication that spring is on its way - with summer soon to follow; this often means a change in uniform. I really love seeing the children come to school in shorts and summer dresses. Towards the end of this term, we will hold a Summer Uniform Sale at school, to get ready for the warmer weather. Over the next couple of weeks, can you have a look at home to see if there is uniform that no longer fits - summer ones. We will then collate in school ready to hold the sale in the final week of term on Monday 25th March.

With so many activites taking place in school, our school PE uniform is really useful, and very smart. The hoodies seem to have been a welcome addition to our uniform list. If I was a pupil here, it would certainly be my choice of uniform on a daily basis if I was allowed. For some classes, the wearing of the PE kit is creeping into days where the children do not have PE or there is a club after school for which they need to get changed into a separate kit. It is becoming a weekly uniform rather than PE kit.

Please can you make sure that:

  • School PE kit is worn on PE days for your child’s class.

  • School PE kit is worn if your child has a sport club before school or after school that does not require them to get changed. For example; multi-skills, judo and netball would allow the children to be in PE kit as they need trainers. Football training is school uniform and then changed into a football kit - it is separate to PE kit and needs boots not trainers - therefore PE kit does not need to be worn during the day.

  • When wearing trainers, the colour is predominatly black, white or blue. There is lots of neon colours creeping in that is not inline with our uniform policy.

I am really proud of our uniform, and whenever our children are out and about, the children look incredibly smart; they are always commented upn. We need to preserve that and also prepare the children for life beyond Our Ladys where there is really high expecatations of school uniform. I really appreciate your support with this so that we create consistency across the school and maintain the very high standards that have been set.

Our Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 1 & Year 3 - 97.3% Our whole school attendance this week is 95.8%

Office News

It is hard to believe that we are hurtling towards Easter as some speed. There is only three weeks to go before we finish again for the Easter holidays.

Trips are being planned and teachers will put on their websites the key information that you will need for this. All of the children enjoy trips and they are essential to give opportunities to the children beyond the classroom. We are really lucky to live where we live - our local area is stunning so the more we can get out into it the better.

Trips are the perfect opportunity for you to get involved as parents and grandparents. Our classes need a certain number of adults for ratios, and we need you to make that happen. If you see a trip pop up on your child’s class page and adult support is needed, please do get involved. Trips are magical and the children have so much fun. We have a number of grandparents who support all trips in school. If you are someone who could do that and be a support for trips beyond your child’s classroom - or you have a grandparent who could - please complete this form below so that we can add you to our school contact. Thank you all so much.

Last week, I shared with you that Mrs Marshall had started her much-needed maternity leave. Well, this week our school family has grown by another 10 little fingers and 10 little toes. On Tuesday afternoon, Mrs Marshall’s little girl arrived, weighing 5lb and 14oz - she is beautiful. On behalf of us all, I have wished Mrs Marshall and her family a huge congratulations on the birth of Poppy Wren Marshall. I know you will keep them all in your thoughts and prayers. We cannot wait to see them in school soon for cuddles!

Have a wonderful weekend with your families.

God bless

Mrs Gregan

The Bible shows the way to Heaven

The Guiness Book of Records says that The Bible is the best-selling book of all time! More than 5 billion copies of the Bible have been printed and the New Testament has been translated into over 2000 languages. In today’s assembly, as we prepare for World Book Day next week, we have been looking at some of the greatest stories that have ever been told; what are your favourite stories? Are they ones that involve a hero or a heroine? Maybe a story that is set in a place of fantasy? How about a character that show humour? There are so many wonderful story books out there; sometimes it is impossible to choose. But there is one book in particular that I have asked the children to really look at each day next week - THE BIBLE. This book is littered with stories that bring our faith to life. It is a collection of messages to us from God; he makes sure everything we need to know is in His word. I like to think of it as a letter from God and a message of how to live. Next week, the children will be focusing on the bible as part of their prayer and liturgy, exploring the many wonderful stories that are part of it. Don’t forget to keep going with the acts of kindness at home so that we can fill our Lenten boxes for CAFOD.

Last Sunday, the church was filled with the families of our Year 4 children who are making their First Holy Communion this year. Father Peter welcomed them into church and told them that they were giving of themselves in order to receive Jesus in the eucharist. Please pray for our children as they continue through their programme. Next Thursday, we will be welcoming the parents of the children as they start their programme of faith in support of their children.

Parents’s Meetings and Book Looks

We have had a wonderful week in school welcoming parents and grandparents to have a look at the children’s work. I love hearing the conversations that are taking place about learning and which pieces of work the children are most proud of. Thank you all for coming and spending 40 minutes with your children celebrating the achievements that they have made. The knowledge that you now have about your child’s work and their progress will be implemented into the parent meeting scheduled for later on this half-term. There really is so much to celebrate.

Next week’s book looks

Monday 9am - Year 5 Book Look

Wednesday 9.00am - Year 4 Book Look

Wednesday 2.00pm - Year 6 Book Look plus residential talk

In addition to Book Looks, it is now possible to book appointments for Parents’s Evenings; which many of you have done already.

The available appointments will be on:

Wednesday 13th March - from 2.00pm until 5.20pm (for all classes)

Wednesday 20th March - from 2.00pm until 5.20pm (for all classes apart from Year 4 due to Shakespeare)

Tuesday 26th March - from 2.00pm until 5.20pm (just for Year 4 parents)

Appointments can be booked by clicking on this link below.

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

If you are struggling, please contact the school office after half-term and we will be happy to help.

Learning Role Models of the Week

Learners of the Week

Demonstrating our virtues - loving and compassionate

Personal development

School life happens at lots of different times of the day. Part of this is the opportunity for personal development and growth in our pupils. Through our extra-curricular timetable and lunchtime clubs, different groups of children have the chance to support younger pupils in school. This week, Mrs Naylor started board game club where our Year 3 children are helping our Year 1 children. In judo, our Year 2 and Year 1 children are being role models to our reception children. Our sense of the Our Lady Community really is living and breathing.

Our Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 2 & Year 3 - 99% Our whole school attendance this week is 96.6%

You may have seen some work that has been taking place around school in the nursery garden and on our field. We have a number of wooden structures that are in need of some repair. Hopefully, they will all be spruced up and replaced ready for the better weather of Spring. Many of you will not have been in our school chapel. Once the repairs have taken place, and as we approach Lent, there will be a prayer station in there for the community to use. It would be lovely for you to visit the chapel and to see what a special space it is.

Our lovely Miss Lavelle, is starting her own baby book club for babies who are 8 weeks old to crawling. She has a new class starting on Tuesday 12th March here in St Annes. If you are interested or know someone who is interested, please do look into it.

Finally, today we say goodbye to Mrs Marshall for a little while as she starts her maternity leave. Mrs Marshall works tirelessly in school to ensure that the children receive 100% of her care and attention; it is now her time with her family to prepare for the arrival of their new baby. On behalf of us all, we wish Mrs Marshall and her family all the love in the world. WE can’t wait to meet them and congratulate them all. I have said this before, the Our Lady family never gets smaller, infact it only grows. Mrs Marshall, we are sending you all so much love. Thank you for what you give to our school community.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the Book Fair tonight - don’t forget that it is on Monday and Tuesday evening as well.

Have a wonderful weekend with your families.

God bless

Mrs Gregan

Look with compassion on the world - without it, nobody will survive.

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of another half-term. It has been the shortest, yet longest in some ways, filled with lots of illness; but we have made it. The focus for us has been how are we shining our light to others. When Jesus came into the world, he brought such light that we have to be the ones to shine it for him now on Earth. We also need to recruit disciples. After the holiday, we come back into Lent. If you are able to get to Mass over the holiday to celebrate Ash Wednesday, please do. The children will be making their Lenten boxes for their partners across the school and then creating as aspect of the Stations of the Cross for our whole school installation. We hope that you will be able to join us as we reflect as a community.

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” - Aesop

This week has been ONLINE SAFETY and CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH week nationally. It seems ironic that these two areas have come together when the biggest impact on children’s mental health is being online. This week in school we have brought the two areas together and really challenged the children to think about how their online behaviour impacts on their mental health. There have been two slogans for the week:

  • Together for a better internet

  • What matters to you?

Below is a range of photographs from across the school, taken during this week. From online live lessons with the BBC to spa days in nursery for well-being. The children have been challenged to really think and to really refelct. These key messages will be continued to be discussed throughout the rest of the year.

Parents’s Meetings

In a few weeks, there will be the opportunity to speak to your child’s class teacher and find out how they have settled into school this year. Again, we are taking a hybrid approach to hopefully include everyone - a mixture of in school and virtually. We have found in the past year that parent attendance has been higher virtually, than it was in person, because of the flexible nature. I even had the pleasure of conducting a parents’ meeting whilst the family was on a beach in Mexico! Before you have the chance to discuss your child’s progress, there will be an opportunity to come into school and sit with your child. They will share with you the work they have completed so far this year and what they are really proud about. Please do check the dates section on the website for your date.

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, the same as what you would have had if it was in school, 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.

The available appointments will be on:

Wednesday 13th March - from 2.00pm until 5.20pm (for all classes)

Wednesday 20th March - from 2.00pm until 5.20pm (for all classes apart from Year 4 due to Shakespeare)

Tuesday 26th March - from 2.00pm until 5.20pm (just for Year 4 parents)

Appointments can be booked from 3.30pm pm 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

If you are struggling, please contact the school office after half-term and we will be happy to help.

Learning Role Models of the Half-Term as voted for by their class members

Learning awards!

Demonstrating our virtues - curious & active!

Reading Matters

Thank you to our Year 1 parents who have been in this week learning all about phonics and how they can continue to support their children at home. I think lots of new information was learnt.

Well done to Martha who has won a prize at the Lytham Heritage Art Competition. Lots of our children have had their artwork displayed. Please see the poster below for how you can view the artwork over the coming weeks.

Our Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 3 - 98.7% Our whole school attendance this week is 97.2%.

Half-term opportunities

Each half term, Mr Nay runs his camp at Heyhouses school for all children. The link to the right will take you to his booking page.

Thank you to everyone who has booked a place on the extra curricular clubs after half term. If the form has closed, then the places have been filled. I will collate names over half-term and let you know before we return.

Have a lovely holiday with your family. We look forward to seeing you on Monday 19th February.

God bless

Mrs Gregan

"Peace begins with a smile." - Mother Teresa

How have you seen your child shining their light this week? We are constantly looking for role-models in school; those children who we can look to and help us all live the lives that were intended for us. In today’s assembly, we looked at ways in which Jesus found time to pray. He was a really busy man, but still he found time to take himself off and be peaceful. What ways do you do this in your house? How do you all find time to be still?

Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

During half term, Ash Wednesday takes place and we move into the season of Lent. As a school we have been thinking of ways in which we can bring ourselves closer to the cross. Each class will be contributing to our own version of Stations of the Cross that will be displayed in the school hall. We are looking forward to welcoming the school community in to view our artwork and hoping you too will be able to journey to the cross with us. Over half term the children will be making a lenten box for their class buddy. This is a container in which children can collect change for acts of kindness and helpful acts that they do at home. We will be raising money for CAFOD’s Lenten Appeal.

Inspiring change?  Making a difference, managing influence and navigating change online.

Next week is National Online Safety Day - but we are going for a whole week. Technology is wonderful - I certainly would not be able to do my job without it - and I am a great believer in preparing the children for the world in which they will be going into as young adults. However, when misused, it can become very dangerous. I am finding myself dealing with more and more incidents of online behaviour where children are using apps that are recommended for 16+; it is our biggest safeguarding concern in school. Next week gives us all the opportunity to start a conversation and to reflect on our current behaviours. What could we do differently? How could we inspire change? How can we ensure that our children are monitored and safe when online?

Keep an eye on the blogs next week to see what we have been up to in school. Don’t forget about our Parents’ Padlet full of information and up to date help all about Online Safety. I will be updating this next week with all of the up to date information provided by the national bodies.

Extra-Curricular Opportunites

After half-term, there are opportunites for all children to get involved in things beyond the school day.

  • Choir

  • Reception and Year 1 Judo

  • Year 2 Parent and Child art Club

  • Year 1 & 3 Board Games Club

  • Year 4 Reconciliation and Holy Communion

  • Year 5 & 6 Football and Netball

Make sure you have visited the Sports Page and News Around the School to request a place. We will look carefully at numbers and confirm places next week ready to start after half term.

Don’t forget to send in images for the PROUD CLOUD. We have started again this term and are collecting new photographs. Please send anything in that has a sense of pride.

Role Models of the Week

Leading Learners

Virtue Role Models

Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 3 this week - 99.3%. Our whole school attendance was 95%

We have had so much illness in school this half-term; both staff and pupils have been affected. Thank you always keeping us updated with what is happening and filling in the attendance form. It really helps us to keep on top of things and to monitor specific illnesses in school. We have received specific guidance on measles into school and have been asked to issue the letter below. Please do take time to read it.

I have had a lovely finish to the end of the week by meeting with the School Council. There was a number of items on our agenda:

  • Gaining a crossing at Church Road and the next steps for this.

  • Buying a reading shed for the school garden - which one will we choose.

  • Launching a competition to design the patch of grass at the front of school.

There are lots of exciting things that are possible, it is just having the vision to bring it to life. Thankfully, I have a team of excellent counsellors to support me. They will now take this to their classes for a decision to be made.

We finish for half-term next Friday, 9th February, at 3.30pm

God bless

Mrs Gregan

"Christ has no body on earth but yours." - Teresa of Avila

In Sunday’s Gospel, we were all called to be Fishers of Men. To shine our light brightly, listen to God’s call and to bring people along with us. We have been thinking about this in school; what is our role as Christians today? Our word of the week has been FOLLOW; not to follow Jesus in the literal sense of the word, but in our calling to live our lives using Him as an example. In Nursery, the children have been looking at what it means to be part of Jesus’s team. Our worship area is now the centre of our community prayer and liturgy with a lighthouse display. Each child has added a beam of light that shows how they will shine their light brightly. Each fish is a symbol of their name and that we have all been called to be disciples of Christ.

Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

I received an invitation to an Acts of Kindness play today that this group of Year 5 children had written and starred in. It was fabulous! So many things that just happen daily that we need to think about. Thank you Year 5 for brightening my day!

We have also had a visit from Mr Marsden, headteacher at St Bedes, today. I really love showing visitors around our school as I am so proud of it. Mr Marsden is really keen to get to know each feeder school and spend time in there; we will be working closely together to ensure a smooth transition for our pupils. He has enjoyed a tour of the school, conversed with pupils in each classroom, then joined us for assembly at the end of the day. He was blown away by the excellent behaviour and enthusiastic singing in assembly. We look forward to welcoming him back soon.

Opportunities beyond the Curriculum

We have been looking closely at our enrichment programme and how learning can be cultivated beyond the curriculum and classroom. One of the links that has continued to blossom is the one with the Royal Shakespeare Company. This week, five of our pupils, together with parents and grandparents, visited The Grand Theatre in Blackpool to take part in a Storytellers workshop. With the hope of linking up with Michael Morpurgo, the children devised their own stories to share. What wonderful ambassadors of our school!

There are lots of exciting opportunities coming up in the Spring term:

  • Big Sing at Lowther Pavilion for our choir.

  • Year 1 Tea Dance at Marine Hall in Fleetwood

  • Year 4 Romeo and Juliet performance with the RSC

These are to name but a few. Please keep an eye on class pages for more information about trips and visitors.

Don’t forget to send in images for the PROUD CLOUD. We have started again this term and are collecting new photographs. Please send anything in that has a sense of pride.

Role Models of the Week

Leading Learners

Virtue Role Models

Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 1 this week - 98.6%. Our whole school attendance was 94.5%

Next week, the office will be looking at our current attendance rates in school. Thank you to everyone that is continuing to complete leave of absence requests early so that we can process them with County in good time. We are also looking at outstanding library books in order to replenish the system. Please can you all have a good look at home for any school books? Some children have had books for a very long time. Class teachers will be sharing lists with the children in class with the hope of a book hunt taking place.

We have a number of mini-iPads in school that we cannot use anymore because of changes to our school server - 16GB ones and 32GB ones. They are old but can still be used for the internet, e-book reading and photos - perfect for little hands. We are selling them off if anyone would like one:

16GB IOS 9.3.5 = £20

16GB IOS 12.5.7 = £25

32GB IOS 12.5.7 = £30

If you email head@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk with what you require, I can get them organised next week depending on how many are sold on a first come first serve basis. The majority will come in a rubber case but without the charger.

Have a lovely weekend with your families

God bless

Mrs Gregan

“Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.”

This week in assembly, we took the gospel from last weekend and thought about all of the names that Jesus is called in the bible; there are so many. All of them have a different meaning and come at different times in Jesus’s life - some even before he was born. In the gospel, we were told about how Jesus started to recruit his disciples; men who had a mission to bring the Kingdom of God alive here on earth. We all have names and our names all have a different meaning. In assembly we explored some of these: Jacob; which means to follow. Millie; which means gentle strength, to name but a few. I have tasked the children with exploring the meaning of their own names to share in the worship area next week. Maybe you could do this as a family?

Mrs Gregan’s Week Around School

This week, I have the one of the loveliest weeks in school; meeting lots of people on my wanders. On Monday, I have the pleasure of teaching in Year 5. This week’s icy snap certainly helped my lesson as we started a unit of work on negative numbers. We discussed how negative numbers fall below 0 - which was evident in the snowy conditions outside. Tuesday saw me venture to Preston to meet up with other Catholic leaders in exploring the new RE curriculum which we are slowly rolling out in school. I spent the day listening to Father John Miller explain in detail, the passion of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit. We discussed how we can enable our children to encounter other world faiths and engage in dialogue too.

Our main purpose of a school is being a Catholic school and bringing the children closer to God through what we offer in school and their engagement with the church at the weekend. On Wednesday I held two workshops. One with children and governors and one with staff where we started to look at our purpose and what makes Our Lady Star of the Sea a special school and community to be part of. This is the start of our journey and evaluation; it is so important that everyone has the chance to contribute. Under the photographs, I have attached a button with the same questions that we looked at on Wednesday. I would be really grateful if you could spend 10 minutes at home considering the same questions and completing the form so that everyone’s voice is part of our Catholic identity.

Today, I have experienced pure joy. Being an upper junior teacher, I very rarely had the chance to teach the younger members of our school - I am trying to get into every class. Today I taught art to Reception. I asked them to think about Mary and what Mary looks like. We explored a range of images that showed Mary in different ways. The children then created their own paintings ready to be displayed in the hall. It was an hour of magic!

I have also received a letter from Damien Hinds, Minister for Schools, this week congratulating us on our school’s outstanding achievement of 100% pass rate in the 2023 phonics screening check. This puts us in the top 1% of primary schools across the country. We are incredibly proud of the work that we do on early reading and the dedicated team who deliver phonics to our children daily.

Role Models of the Week

Leading Learners

Virtue Role Models

Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 3 this week - 98.7%. Our whole school attendance was 94.5%

Sport in School

A whole host of opportunities have come since the children returned after Christmas. Last Friday, our Year 5 & 6 girls football team headed to AKS to complete in the cluster football tournament. There was some tricky games, but the girls were fantastic. Their attitude and desire to compete were exemplary. On Tuesday, our Year 5 & 6 Athletics team competed against other schools in indoor athletics. It is always such a wonderful event - very loud - but wonderful. Fencing has also started for our KS1 children. I was so impressed watching them have a go this morning and how they listened to their coach. After half-term, it will be archery!

How can we be a good neighbour?

Thank you so much for taking much more care on the roads around school, it has appeared calmer on my gates in the morning. We are still looking for families who cross over Church Road to get to school - please can you complete this form if you haven’t yet done so. The student council will be meeting over the next couple of weeks and writing a letter to our MP requesting a meeting about the results. We desperately want the make the roads around our school safer and for our pupils to be able to walk to school safely, crossing the major roads with ease. After half term, we will be launching the walk to school campaign to quieten the roads down around school more.

Have a lovely weekend with your families

God bless

Mrs Gregan

“We must reflect the light of Christ through lives of prayer and joyful service to others.”

Happy New Year! I hope that you all managed to have a restful and peaceful time this Christmas. It is always tricky to rest in the midst of all of the unwrapping of presents and preparing the food needed for the celebrations; but I really hope that you have done so. There certainly seems to have been some stubborn illnesses around too with lots of families, and staff, suffering the effects of winter bugs. Thank you all for communicating this with school so clearly this week.

Often, at the end of one year, we feel compelled to reflect on the year that has been; thinking about the things that we haven’t done or haven’t achieved. I have urged the children to look ahead, to build on what they accomplished and learnt last year; always growing. When Jesus was born, our God in human form, a shining light was given to us. A light to guide us, to inspire us and for us to become. This is our mission, to be the light in the world for others to follow. Over the next week, the children will be spending time in prayer and liturgy thinking about how they will shine their light brightly. This will be added to a thought-provoking lighthouse display in our worship area. We can’t wait to share this with you when it is finished. This half term, our virtues are to be eloquent and truthful. As a community, we will be exploring what this means and what it looks like as followers of Christ.

This term is quite short compared to the Autumn term, but there are still lots of opportunities to enhance the children’s learning. We are continuing our invitational approach to parents coming into school with phonics coffee morning for Year 1 parents, Stay and Plays for Reception and Learning Looks for all parents in the build up to Parents’ Evening later on in the term. Please do check the school calendar for key dates relevant to your child, these will be continued to be added over the next few weeks. More information will appear on the class pages towards these dates.

“Technology can be a useful servant, but a dangerous master.”

Online safety is one of our biggest safeguarding concerns in school. In the world in which we live in, it is all too easy for the children to have access to devices; tablets, gaming and phones, from a given age. This age is in fact getting younger and I have found myself having conversations with some of our KS1 children regarding phone usage. This Christmas, devices seems to have been the present of choice for our pupils and as a result, we have seen an increase in safeguarding issues around online safety. This week, I have had daily conversations with pupils regarding their online behaviour; the amount of messages that have been sent (over 200 in some cases), class Whatsapp groups, inappropriate online messaging via Whatsapp and games consoles - the list is quite endless.

Please can I urge you to have a conversation with your child at home regarding their online behaviour and device monitoring. I have added two links below regarding parental controls and a guide to gifting technology. I have spoken with our IT technician regarding an advice drop-in where you can bring your devices to be set up with parental controls. We will also be using the National Online Safety Day to spearhead our campaign in school at the end of this month. Thank you for your ongoing support with this. Our children are moving into a technological world, a very exciting world! We need to ensure that we work together to help them to navigate this safely.

Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 3 this week - 98.3%. Our whole school attendance was 95.6%

News from the Office

Happy New Year. The office has been a hive of activity this week as we have set up things for the new term.

Fencing has started for our KS1 children this morning. Thank you all for paying so promptly before the course began. They had a wonderful time.

Dinner money is now on Parent Pay for this term. Please can you check it and ensure that payment is made. Thank you so much.

At the office, we have the school foodbank which the Student Council set up last year. The donations from before Christmas were sent to the local foodbank so we are now ready to start afresh. The following items have been requested and are in need in our community:

Sanitary products, noodles, tinned fruit & veg, toothpaste and orange juice. If you are able to contribute in any which way, please send the items into school or bring to the office. Thank you so much.

Vacancy within school

We are currently looking for a cleaner to add to our school team. This is a post for 10 hours a week; from 3.30-5.30pm. If you think you would like to apply or know someone who will, please contact Mrs Gregan at head@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk by next Tuesday.

How can we be a good neighbour?

I really love where our school is situated. It is firmly planted in the middle of a community with close links to the parish. However, this placing has its issues too. There are a number of roads around our school that if not used correctly, or we do not park correctly, can become unsafe for our pupils, families and neighbours. The road signs around school are there to prevent cars being parked there, we are going to need to increase these as some of the corners are being used for parking, meaning that it is dangerous. We have also had some phone calls into school from our neighbours about parking across driveways. One neighbour was unable to move his car and therefore missed an appointment. Can I please ask that we are considerate with where we all park and use the time to maybe park further away from school and walk in.

As we approach the better weather, we will be looking at this with our student council. They are really keen to run a safer road safety campaign. They are also looking at Church Road and hopefully getting a crossing put in place. If you live on the opposite side of Church Road to school - we need you! Can you complete the form below by simply saying that you cross this road, to get to school. It doesn’t matter how you cross this road, we just simply want numbers. There will be a walk to school campaign in place too. Thank you so much.

Have a lovely weekend with your families

God bless

Mrs Gregan

Luke 2:10: "And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."

This Advent, we have really tried to open our hearts to the arrival of Jesus. As a community, we have travelled through Advent knowing that the stable is our ultimate destination. Through the songs and acting of our EYFS and KS1 children, to the scripture and prayers that were spoken at the carols by our KS2 children, we hope that you have enjoyed journeying with us. I have attached a small video of our prayer and liturgy in school this term. I hope you enjoy listening to some of the songs and seeing the beautiful reflections that have been taking place across the school.

The nativities have been the beacon of light for us this half term - they have been truly magical and such a reminder of the most amazing miracle in such a tiny baby. The children and staff team have taken the story and portrayed it so very beautifully. On Monday afternoon and evening, our KS2 children stole the night as their voices lifted the entire church is prayer and praise. It is my favourite night of the year, and this one did not disappoint.

Digital codes for the filming of the concerts have been given out for the children that have ordered them. I know that some of you have experienced difficulty in accessing the film, myself included. We have contacted the company today and are trying to resolve it. The resolution seems to be if your code looks like it has a capital I in it, try putting it in as a lowercase l. For example, NlNE - the second letter is a lower case l. This seems to have worked in the cases that we have tried, so fingers crossed for you too.

Christmas in School

Christmas in a primary school is joyous! From the parties, to dancing, to pass the parcel, to Christmas dinner and lots of biodegradable glitter - we have had so much fun this week! I apologise for the confusion over drinks for the party. In the event of being inclusive, we stipulated water on blogs as the children have so many treats in school on those days and drinks are often problematic. We will always try to problem-solve moving forward and ensure that our communication is really clear.

Please enjoy the video below of the Christmas week and then visit class pages for more fun and excitement.

Leading Learners of the Half Term

This week, the children chose their learners of the term. Children who had demonstrated the learning characters and virtues in class. It is always special receiving a certificate, but to receive it from your peers is like a gold stamp of approval. Thank you children for giving of yourself so selflessly and for striving the be the role models that we need here at Our Ladys.

Leading Learners

Butterfly Virtues

A word from me…

Today marks the end of my first year as headteacher - and I am beyond proud of what we have continued to achieve together at Our Ladys. I cannot believe that it has been a year, but so much has happened, I need to stop and appreciate every single moment. So much has happened this year, more than I could have possibly imagined, and the emotional weight of this role has been something that I have noticed and felt more than anything else. Each one of the 210 children in our school are incredibly special to me; each parent, each governor and each member of staff are part of a very special team that make up our community. Making decisions for the good of everyone is never easy, but what I try to do is to be inclusive of everybody, to ensure that everybody feels a sense of belonging and to keep Christ firmly at the centre of our hearts. Of course, I have not always got things right and there are times when I could have done things differently. But what I have always tried to ensure is that kindness comes above anything. That the children feel loved, valued and safe and that relationships are strengthened in every interaction. This school is a learning community; and this year the learning for me has been steep, but I have loved every minute of it. There is a saying that if you love the job you do, then you never work a day in your life. I am incredibly blessed and lucky to do what I do and to work with the people I work with. The staff her are beyond brilliant and the amount of support they give your children is inspirational. They are really ready for the Christmas break, this term has been long, but they are tired because they have worked so very hard for the good of our school. I am blessed to work alongside a team such as this one.

Thank you all for the support that you have given me this year; for always speaking with kindness and never judgmental; for always smiling and taking an interest in the school; for always sharing issues so that we can problem-solve together; for just being you. On behalf of the entire staff team, I want to wish you all a very happy and holy Christmas. We look forward to welcoming you back on Monday 8th January.

God bless

Mrs Gregan

"Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, to see what the Lord hath given us."

Over the past two weeks, we have been on a mission to recruit more and more people on our journey to the stable. We have challenged each and every person who has come through the school door to be present in the moment and to enjoy the season that is before us. The nature of Christmas often means that we are consumed by preparation. Preparation for the big day in terms of presents and food; instead we need to be consumed by the preparation of Jesus’s arrival and in turn prepare our hearts.

We have continued to meet the different members of the Holy Family; this week, it was Jesus. Today we learnt that Jesus comes from the Greek name Joshua, which means the Lord saves. Really, Jesus’s name is in his job description - to save God’s people. This tiny baby, so full of love. with a message for us all! Next week, we will be exploring the word light and how Jesus is a light for us all.

Sharing in the Nativity

From the beauty of the Foundation Nativity to the poignant message that our Key Stage 1 children shared this week; I could not be prouder of them all. Together, our Year 1 and 2 children put on the most wonderful nativity, full of song and important messages - it really was a West End Spectacular. They shared in the doubt, fear and panic that Mary and Joseph must have felt, not to mention Ferrari the donkey. But despite all of those emotions, the young family knew that ultimately it was God’s will and they had to continue - no matter what. We too must listen to God’s call and His plan for us.

Thank you to each and every grown up who came and supported the children and came and watched the nativity. This was about the children; it is always about the children, and even though, my requests to just smile and enjoy the performance seated amongst many, please bring yourself and not a drink may seem a little strange or trivial at times; it is for the good of the children and to enable them to feel confident and safe. No child is the same and for them to produce what they have done this week, they needed our support. By us being a wonderful audience, and minimising distractions, they have given us the most precious gift that could have been given. Every child took part which is just what it is about. Quite often I have to take a step back and put things into perspective. If the children are comfortable and happy, then everything else is insignificant.

Next week, our journey to the stable moves to church where our Key Stage 2 children will be retelling the story through scripture and song. There are two performances: 2pm and 6pm. We hope that you will be able to join us.

Another pupil who has really shone this week is Angel. As parents and friends entered the hall for the nativity this week, Angel has been placed at the piano welcoming all in. We have always wanted a pianist in school and now we have one. We are so proud of him and his courage, playing in front of so many.

The final week in school…

The last four days in school are jam-packed. Please make sure you know what is happening and when:

Monday: KS2 Christmas Carol Concert - 2pm and 6pm. We need some adults to walk down with our youngest children at 1.30pm. Please come to school if you are able to do so. In the evening, the children will need to be at church in full school uniform (not PE kit) at 5.45pm. Please wait patiently outside when you arrive.

Tuesday: KS2 Christmas Party - the children can wear their own clothes. They are also allowed to bring in a drink (nothing fizzy or Prime related) and either a chocolate bar or a packet of crisps.

Wednesday: F and KS1 Christmas Party - the children can wear their own clothes. They are also allowed to bring in a drink (nothing fizzy or Prime related) and either a chocolate bar or a packet of crisps.

Wednesday: Christmas Dinner. Thank you to all of those who have ordered.

Thursday: School will close at 2pm. Please collect your children promptly.

Leading Learners this week

Leading Learners

Butterfly Virtues

Office News

Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 2. Our whole school attendance was 96.8%

With one week to go to the end of term the office is busy trying to tie up everything for the new year. Thank you for your orders for the digital film copy of the nativities ~ your codes will be sent to you next week as soon as we receive them.

There are still a number of school dinner accounts that need settling on ParentPay as soon as possible please. Dinners for next half term are still £2.50 in line with Lancashire County Council and therefore will be £62.50 for the five week half term. We do encourage you to please pay dinner money in advance. Thank you for your support with this.

If you have a child starting Reception next September please do not forget to submit your application on the Lancashire County website before 15th January 2024. If you are applying to our school please hand in our supplementary form and a copy of your child’s baptism certificate to Mrs Nel in the school office as soon as possible.

The holiday pattern for the next academic year has now been agreed by the governors. I have attached it below for you and put it on the dates section of the website.

After a number of years at Our Ladys, Mrs Connolly will be leaving us this Christmas to take up another position, in another school, closer to home. Mrs Connelly has worked tirelessly over the years to support lots of children as they have journeyed through school. We will miss her dearly, and the joy that she has brought. Mrs Connolly, on behalf of the school community, thank you for what you have given to the children and of yourself.

Have a wonderful weekend

God bless

Mrs Gregan

“An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid.”

Christmas festivities have definitely arrived in school this week. With the arrival of the Christmas tree, the advent wreath taking centre stage in the worship area and the children’s advent promises adorning the front display in the hall; everything definitely feels a little more magical. On Monday we started our week together by recognising the first Sunday of advent and lighting the first candle; the candle of hope. We prayed that we become people of hope, not people of expectation or greed this Christmas time. As a community, we are very much journeying to the stable together, bringing people along the way as we go. We very much hope that as you join us for the various things that are taking place in school, you too make your way to the stable this Christmas.

We have continued to meet the different members of the Holy Family; this week, it was Joseph. Despite all of the challenges that Joseph faced: fear, confusion, rejection and worry, he continued to show courage and faith. Courage is our word of the week next week and our prayer is The Our Father. It would be lovely if you prayed this prayer at home with your family.

Sharing in the Nativity

There are moments in your life when it is so important to just be still and enjoy the magic of the situation in front of you. This week has been one of them. Our smallest children in school took to the stage on Wednesday and Thursday to perform for their adults and what a story they told! This story transcends time and no matter how many times it is heard, the true beauty of it was captured. We are so proud of them all!

Next week, it is our Year 1 & 2 children’s turn to tell the story in their very own way. When you arrive in school for the nativity, can I ask that you just bring yourselves ready to be present in the story. There will be enough seats for all tickets that have been sold, to avoid the need for any standing. Often we can get tempted to stand to watch when our child appears, or stand to wave so that our children know we are there. This isn’t needed; they know you are there, they know you love them, they know you are there to pray with them and they need you to be as still as you can so that they can perform like they have been practising. It is always nice to sit somewhere where you can see your child, but they cannot see you. You can both then enjoy the liturgy as intended. I would be really grateful if you can pass this message to whoever is coming to watch the performances. If you know of someone coming who will need additional support or seating, please do let us know and we would be happy to help in any way. The production is around about an hour long. You may want to think about bringing little ones to watch the play as it may be a tad too long for them.

Both nativities have been recorded and will be available for you to view online. In recent years, we have moved to the online way instead of a DVD as technology moves so quickly, the online version is the safest way to ensure that you can all access the film in lots of different ways: via computer, mobile, tablets, consoles, smart TV, and streaming devices such as Chromecast. This way ensures that everyone can access it for as long as possible, you can also share the film in a safe way with family and friends. Mrs Nel has added the payment of £12 to Parent Pay. If you would like a copy of the nativity, we need orders by:

Reception - Monday 11th December

Year 1 & Year 2 - Friday 15th December

We will have your digital codes ready for you in the final week of the term.

The Great Our Lady Bake Off - A School Fundraiser

I think the first Our Lady Star of the Sea Bake Off was a huge success! Thank you to you all of you who have supported, baked cakes, eaten cakes, wore a Christmas jumper - we had the most jolliest of times. Our choir entertained parents, family and friends this afternoon brilliantly. What a wonderful way to start Christmas. So far we have raised £977.00 through the bake off for our outdoor area and reading shed. If you still have money to bring in on Monday, please do. Let’s see if we can get to the £1000 mark.

Office News

On Wednesday 20th December it is the School Christmas Dinner. Those children who normally have a dinner will automatically receive one. Those children who do not, but would like one, please can you book using the button below. The cost of the dinner is £2.50 per child which will be added to Parent Pay. The children who normally have a school dinner in KS1 on a Wednesday will not need to pay. Can you indicate if your child is having a Christmas Dinner in KS2 or additional KS1 children please.

If you can sign up your child by Monday 11th December, we can then ensure that our food delivery is enough to cater for everyone.

Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 1 again this week - 99.3%. Our whole school attendance was 97.6%

For over 30 years, Mrs Rose Shepherd has been involved in the school community of Our Ladys school. First as a teacher, then as a parent and more recently as a govenor. This week, Mrs Shepherd attended her final governor meeting. I have had the privaledge to work with Mrs Shepherd when I was training to be a teacher and then since whilst in school. She is someone who radiates compassion in all that she does; I know those families who have had their children taught by Mrs Shepherd would say the same. It is now time for her to be with her family and grandchildren. Mrs Shepherd, on behalf of the school, we would like to thank you for your 30 years service. You have given of yourself selflessly.

Next Friday, 15th December the Operatic Society will be holding its annual festive night of carol singing. Doors open at the Parish Centre at 7pm, with the event starting at 7.45pm. It promises to be a night for all, adults and children alike. It is a free event aiming to fully immerse one and all in the sounds of Christmas.

Have a wonderful weekend

God bless

Mrs Gregan

“So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming.” Mark 13: 33

Advent is a time of preparation, a time of waiting. We know what will be coming but we do not know when, and even though we mark Jesus’s birth on December 25th, we know that Jesus can come to us at anytime; we must all be ready. In assembly this week, we have started to look at The Holy Family. Christmas is a time for family, and it is often a time when we spend more time with those who we love due to the different events that take place. The first member of the family that we have looked at is Mary. Mary was given many names holy, Queen of Heaven, Mother Most Admirable, but above all of these she was blessed. Each week during Advent, we will be taking a different word and exploring it’s meaning along with a specific prayer for the week. This week it is WITNESS. Mary was a witness to the light - how can we too be a witness to our faith? Our prayer this week is the Hail Mary. Maybe you could join in at home and say a Hail Mary every night as a family before you go to bed. Year 1 have been learning to sign the Hail Mary - can you learn this at home? As I walked through Reception today, I had to stop and look at this most beautiful drawing of the nativity. The miracle of Jesus’ birth as captured by our youngest children.

The travelling nativity has been such a wonderful celebration which has included each member of our school family. I have loved hearing what the children’s favourite parts of the book they have read and where they have placed the nativity in their homes. I have attached some of the photographs that have been sent in and that we will be displaying in our Worship Area over the coming weeks. As you are reading this, a team of little elves have descended on the school, looking to sprinkle festive cheer. We can’t wait for the children to arrive back in school on Monday.

As part of our work on sustainability, we are trying to be as eco-friendly as possible across the school. For many years now, we have asked the children not to bring in Christmas cards for individual members of their class, but instead to make just one. This one card is for the whole class and is put up around the tree in their classrooms and next to the crib. The cards are designed by the children and made by them. This is becoming an Our Lady tradition. We thank you for your cooperation with this.

Sharing in the Nativity

Next week, we will see the first of our nativity performances taking place. Across the school, each class team and key stage have been working hard to bring the most amazing story to life through song, prayer and performance. For our children, this will be a special moment in time. We know that for parents and families too, there is no greater joy than seeing your child perform the Christmas story; it will bring back memories of your own time in school. For us, the nativity is central to our prayer and liturgy. When the children tell the story, we are praying to God for the gift of his son. The children who will initially be taking to the stage are our smallest children; for which this can be very daunting.

When you arrive in school for the nativity, can I ask that you just bring yourselves ready to be present in the story. There will be enough seats for all tickets that have been sold, to avoid the need for any standing. Often we can get tempted to stand to watch when our child appears, or stand to wave so that our children know we are there. This isn’t needed; they know you are there, they know you love them, they know you are there to pray with them and they need you to be as still as you can so that they can perform like they have been practising. It is always nice to sit somewhere where you can see your child, but they cannot see you. You can both then enjoy the liturgy as intended. I would be really grateful if you can pass this message to whoever is coming to watch the performances. If you know of someone coming who will need additional support or seating, please do let us know and we would be happy to help in any way.

The Great Our Lady Bake Off - A School Fundraiser

The Our Lady Bake Off is 1 week away. We a are looking at raising money to develop our outside wooded area and to buy a reading shed. This is everything that you need to know about how the day will run.

Your child will bring their baking into class in the morning ready for judging. In each classroom there will be a gingham altar with the very able Paul and Pru ready to taste. There are two judging criteria:

  • Flavour judging - by the class teaching team

  • Festive decoration - by the children. The more festive - the better!

A star baker will be awarded in each classroom.

If you are baking as a family and there is one bake between siblings, this will be judged separately in the hall by myself and Mrs Nel.

Following the judging, the children will have the opportunity to buy some of the delicious treats in a cake sale at breaktime. The amounts needed for the day are below.

Christmas Jumper = £1 donation

Christmas Bake Off entry = £3 entry fee

Cake Sale Purchase = £1

In the afternoon of the 8th, from 2pm, we would like to invite all family and friends into school for ‘Carols and Cake.’ The tree will be up, the lights will be lit and our choir will be serenading you with some songs of Christmas. We will be saving some of the morning treats for the afternoon and there will be a donation box for you to contribute what you are able too. Please can you complete the form below if you are planning on coming, and also if you are bringing additional guests. We can then ensure that we have enough in place to cater for everybody. We are really looking forward to next Friday and starting the festive season alongside you.

Leading Learners and School Virtue Role Models

Learning Role Models

Year 3 & 4 Virtue and Certificate Winners

School Virtue Role Models

Reading Coffee Morning

On Wednesday morning, Mrs Lyons and a group of Year 4 children, explained to a group of very willing parents, just what reading looks like at Our Ladys. We are incredibly proud of our reading curriculum and how the children really rise to the challenge her. Reading is a life skill and one that enables the children to access the wider curriculum beyond english. Thank you Mrs Lyons for being so passionate and for really leading our school’s love of reading. Thank you to the parents for coming and getting involved. After Christmas, Miss Drummond will be holding a phonics morning for our Year 1 families.

Office News

On Wednesday 20th December it is the School Christmas Dinner. Those children who normally have a dinner will automatically receive one. Those children who do not, but would like one, please can you book using the button below. The cost of the dinner is £2.50 per child which will be added to Parent Pay. The children who normally have a school dinner in KS1 on a Wednesday will not need to pay. Can you indicate if your child is having a Christmas Dinner in KS2 or additional KS1 children please.

If you can sign up your child by Friday 8th December, we can then ensure that our food delivery is enough to cater for everyone.

In school, we are a healthy eating school. This applies to the snacks that children bring in, the packed lunches that the children eat at lunch time and the drinks that the children bring in their bottles daily. We are noticing an increased amount of juice coming into school. Please can we ask that it is only water that comes into school - not juice. We will continue to monitor this very carefully in school.

Our Parent Governor elections took place this week - my what a lot of votes came in - thank you for everyone for getting involved. After carefully counting the votes, not once, not twice - but three times, it was found that our new Parent Governor will be Alison Funnell. Thank you to all of those who put themselves forward. We know more opportunities will arise and you will have the chance to contribute once more.

Weekly Attendance

Well done to Year 1 again this week - 99.3%. Our whole school attendance was 97.6%

Last week, I spoke about how the Our Lady’s family has continued to grow with the arrival of Miss Bassett’s little girl, Alicia. The family at Our Ladys is of many members, all who have given of themselves selflessly for many years, and it is growing all of the time. This week we have heard the incredibly sad news of the passing of a past teacher; Joy Warwick after a very short illness. Joy taught at Our Ladys for 20 years, having taught many past pupils who are now parents here in school. Many of our staff either worked alongside her or some even taught by her. Joy’s dedication to her job, determination to bring the children she cared for closer to Christ and her compassion to all have been fondly remembered this week. On behalf of the entire school community, I have sent our condolences to her husband David and her beautiful girls, and of course our dearest Barbara and Chris, who have all lost such a special part of their family. I am sure many of you will have your own memories of Mrs Warwick that you will share in the coming days and weeks. Please pray for the family and keep them in your thoughts.

Joy’s funeral will take place at St Joseph’s Church, Ansdell on Tuesday 12th December at 11am. Joy loved Ansdell so very dearly and the parish of St Joseph’s. The family are asking for any donations to be made to Trinity Hospice in her memory, or for the proposed new cross at St Joseph’s church. Once the fundraising starts, I will share the link with you.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon her
May the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
~Amen~

God bless

Mrs Gregan

Parent Governor Elections

Thank you to the four parents who have put themselves forward for the Parent Governor vacancy on our governing body.

Voting slips have come home with the eldest child in each family tonight. Please vote - one per parent - and put the anonymous voting slips back in the envelope and return to school tomorrow.

The votes will be counted this week and an announcement will be made on the newsletter blog on Friday.

We look forward to announcing our new parent governor and working alongside them as part of our governing body.