Gifts for the King

Happy New Year! In Celebration of the Word this week, we marked The Epiphany of the Lord with a focus on gifts. We heard the special meaning of the precious gifts of gold (for royalty), frankincense (for holiness) and myrrh (foretelling death).

We went on to explore the Catholic Social Teaching princple of "The Preferential Option for the Poor". This value encourages us to recognise that we are called to use our gifts and talents to build God's Kingdom by putting the need of the most vulnerable in our community first. Children reflected on ways they can support this work in our local community - like contributing to the parish pantry at St Mary's Church.

A - Epiphany

Warming Up

This week, Year 4 have made a fantastic start to their new PE units: gymnastics, dance and netball. The children have been busy learning and practising new skills, from creating balances and sequences in gymnastics, to exploring movement and rhythm in dance. In netball, pupils have begun developing their passing, footwork and teamwork skills, showing great enthusiasm and determination.

It was particularly lovely to see some of our Year 4 children who attend netball club confidently supporting and encouraging others who have not played netball before. Despite only learning the game themselves last term, they showed maturity, kindness and excellent leadership skills. All of the children stayed focused, active and on task throughout their lessons, demonstrating great resilience and a positive attitude to learning in PE.

Around the World!

Year 1 have been busy in the first week back learning all about our world. We found out that the world is made up of land and sea, with over 70% of it being water! We explored the different continents of our world and went on an imaginary aeroplane to find out about each one. The children couldn't believe the number of different languages that were spoken across the world and the variety of animals found in each continent. We also learnt a catchy song which is still being sung by the children a few days later...

Here to help...

This week, Reception has loved learning about People Who Help Us. We started the topic with a dress‑up day, and it was wonderful to see so many different future careers. From firefighters and doctors, to vets and astronauts, we enjoyed listening to the children talking about their outfits and learning more about the important people who help us every day.

Ratio, Proportion and a Brilliant Challenge!

This week in Year 6, our mathematicians have been diving deeper into our unit on ratio and proportion and the progress has been fantastic. After mastering how to identify and use scale factors and ratios, the children have now moved on to applying these skills in more complex problem‑solving tasks.

To put their learning to the test, the class was presented with a particularly challenging ratio puzzle. It required careful thinking, clear reasoning and a good deal of perseverance. The room was buzzing with discussion as pupils explored different strategies, compared methods and refined their ideas.

A huge well done to Amber, who was the first to crack the problem. Not long after, Isaac impressed us all by streamlining the method, finding a quicker and more efficient way to reach the answer.

It’s been wonderful to see the children growing in confidence, tackling tricky challenges with determination and celebrating each other’s successes.

New to Nursery

After the excitement of the festive period, returning to Nursery brings a welcome sense of routine, familiarity and fun. The new term is also an exciting time as we welcome new starters to our Nursery community. Settling in can feel like a big step for both children and parents, so we focus on building strong, trusting relationships from day one. Through play, consistent routines and gentle guidance, we help children feel safe, confident and happy in their new environment.

As we begin the term together, it’s the perfect opportunity to revisit our Nursery golden rules. These simple, age-appropriate guidelines help children understand how to be ready, respectful and safe. By reinforcing positive behaviours such as sharing, listening and using gentle hands, we create a calm and caring space where everyone can thrive. We look forward to a term full of learning, laughter and new adventures as we grow together!

Marvellous Magi

This week in RE, Year 3 have looked at the scripture involving the Magi and the gifts that they brought to Jesus. This was an Epiphany as it was revealed to them who the Messiah (whom the prophet Isaiah had foretold) was. At Christians, we celebrate The Feast of the Epiphany on the 6th January - so it fitted in really well! To show our understanding of the scripture, we retold the story through a comic strip.

School Council

The House Captains, as the Cabinet Office of the School Council, have been reviewing children's feedback related to school toilets recently. They have worked with the Premises Manager to review cleaning and maintenance routines and will be feeding back to the whole school about their findings and next steps in the coming weeks.

They also have a number of requests for the children themselves, about how they can continue to respect the school facilities and ensure everyone's experience is clean and pleasant.

Straight Paths

This week in RE, Year 2 have been learning about John the Baptist. After producing some lovely work about his parents and him as a baby last term, the children were interested to hear that he is not mentioned in the Bible again until he is an adult. We made links to John and Isaiah the prophet, and the children role-played this to embed their understanding. We then mind-mapped what we had learned about John, and how we can make our own path to God straight.

Precious Gifts

5A's taught us all about the Preferential Option for the Poor in their beautiful school worship this morning. They explained how the words of Isaiah and the ministry of Jesus provide a model for what this Catholic Social Teaching principles looks like: "When I needed a neighbour were you there?" With examples of modern day charities and everyday actions, the children explained how we ca offer the gifts in our lives to help meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our world. What an inspiration you are St Andrew's Class!

Neighbours in Need

Congratulations to this week's Witness Award winners! - Children who have lived out this week's "Tool of St Joseph" - The Preferential Option for the Poor - through their words and actions that have helped a neighbour in need.

Taking the time to notice and respond when the needs of others in our school are greater than our own is how we help to build God's Kingdom here witin our walls. God bless you children!

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