Nursery

On Monday, we learnt all about Diwali (The Festival of Lights). We decorated some rangoli, lantern and firework pictures. On Wednesday, we used our senses to explore pumpkins. Noelle said they "feel squishy". 

To link with our ‘all about me’ theme and books, we have been talking about our families, friends and pets. 

Thank you to those who have emailed or uploaded photos to Tapestry, the children have enjoyed discussing who is in these photos with their key worker. 

Year R

This week the children have been learning about Mary. They visited the church and then Mrs Secci came and spoke to us about Mary and the Rosary. Together we then carried Mary to our woodland area where we saw and sat around the large stone Rosary and said the Hail Mary together.    

Harvest Collection

It has been a pleasure seeing  the children and families at St Paul's taking part in the Harvest Collection for our local Community.

On Wednesday some representatives for the school helped deliver our food collection to the local Paulsgrove Pantry.

Hannah from Paulsgrove Pantry was grateful for our hard work and generosity.

Thank you to all of the St Paul's families that have made this possible and to make a difference to someone less fortunate.

Nursery

This week in nursery the toddlers have been collecting leaves and talking about Autumn colours. They have also created some lovely leaf printing pictures. 

The preschool have been listening to our book of the week ‘A Squash and a Squeeze’ by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. 

They have also been learning about ‘The Oneness of One’, having fun searching the nursery for the hidden number one! 

St Teresa of Avila mass 

Wednesday morning the school participated in a wonderful mass dedicated to the Saint of the day, St Teresa of Avila. Father Andrew talked about the Spanish nun, who is a doctor of the Church and whom truly entrusted to God for the whole of her life, teaching us how to love and have strength in faith.  One of her famous quotes " Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, though all things pass, God does not change".

Parent Teacher Consultation

Parent Teacher consultations will take place throughout the month of November. You will be able to book a slot from 6pm on Monday 27 October via your Arbor app.  

Catholic Social Teaching Ambassadors

Last week on Wednesday St Paul's and Oakland's Catholic Social Teaching Ambassadors once again had the great opportunity to start a new year of working together to promote and share Catholic Social Teaching in our schools with a great day of training. 

The children will work all year long with Oakland's Ambassadors visiting each others schools.  

We Look forward to welcoming them!

Parent Circles

Every Monday and Friday children meet in groups across the school with the aim to build strong relationships between adults and children. We end each session with a popcorn question that is linked to our British values or to an event that is currently topical. It is called a popcorn question because the answers should 'pop' and any child can answer at any time. These questions are used to get children talking and sharing their opinions and ideas. 

On Monday this week we invited parents and carers to attend the session with their child. We also had a presentation from the Portsmouth City Council Neurodiversity Team and Mental Health School Team. 

A big thank you to all who joined in we hope it has given you some insight into these sessions and will encourage you to continue discussions at home with your children. 

World Mental Health Day

Last Friday we celebrated World Mental Health Day, the children had a visitor from Portsmouth's mental health support team who delivered a whole school assembly on how we can manage our worries in a positive way. We then returned to our classrooms to explore further how we can manage any worries we may have. 

KS1 children made worry monsters that they could use to share their worries to and KS2 children made a class worry jar which they used to share their worries aloud with their trusted peers/adults. 

The children also explored different ways to find mindfulness to help focus on their own wellbeing and ease any negative thoughts. We had a range of activities from creating patterns on kitchen towel, fortune teller mindfulness and feather breathing. 

New School Uniform

We have been very lucky to have had some BRAND NEW school uniform donated to us by Tesco in Cosham.  Teresa and Robin visited us today to deliver the uniform and we are very grateful for their generosity. 

If anyone needs any new school uniform for their child please speak to your child's class teacher in the first instance.

Nursery

This week the children have been exploring lots of different activities and learning experiences. For example, hairdressing role play, practicing scissor skills, counting, making 'Gruffalo' masks, PE sessions, music and movement, tap sticks and making obstacle courses.

Thank you to Arvin and his family for their wonderful 'Harvest Festival' contribution and thoughtful card.

St Paul's Missionaries

St Paul's Missionaries are fully active now for the school year 2025-2026. The children at St Paul's have been gifted with many talents and moreover they are very keen to share them and their faith with others living out different roles  across the school. 

This Friday during a special celebration assembly, the children received their badges,  Fr Andrew blessed them and we are sure they will all wear these with pride.

May the Lord guide them in their journey as missionaries.

Breakfast Club

A reminder that if you wish your child(ren)  to attend breakfast club they MUST be pre-booked and paid in advance via Sco-Pay.  If you arrive and we do not have your child on our register we will ask you to pay via your Sco-Pay app before we can allow them access. 

Please also remember we are a cashless school and Breakfast Club staff CANNOT accept cash on the day.

Poppy Appeal

Poppies and other items will be available for children to purchase at break and lunch times from Monday 13 October.

A donation of your choice is suggested for a poppy all other items such as rulers, pencil sharpeners and wrist bands range from 50p to £1. 

Harvest Mass

Wednesday morning the whole school gathered for our annual Harvest Mass, a special Thanksgiving Mass to thank God for the harvest and farmers and those who provide us with the crops we eat everyday.

Father Andrew blessed  fruit, vegetables and bread which was kindly prepared by Tom, the school chef from Caterlink kitchen. Thank you Tom ! 

Father Andrew in his homily, following the gospel of Mark, invites all of us to reflect on the soil where the seeds are planted and whether they are able to germinate and give fruit. 

Learning from God's creation we are the soil and the word of God is the seed.

Nursery

The children have been learning all about 'Noah's Ark' this week.

We read the story and explored the wooden Noah's Ark, sung along to the song 'The Animals went in Two by Two', discussed what animals went into the ark and listened to an animal sound's cd. 

"They went in there because of lots of rain" commented Jessica. 

Some of the children also used paint and toy animals to create animal prints "stomp stomp elephant" said George. 

South Coast Ambulance Training

Today the Year 5/6 children were visited by the South Coast Ambulance service as part of the 'Restart a heart campaign' where they were taught life saving skills. The children learnt how to put people into the recovery position, how to perform CPR and also how to assess and support casualties. Currently, our Catholic Social Teaching is 'caring for God's creation' and today the children learnt how to take care of each other. The South Coast Ambulance service is run entirely from donations and more information can be found on their website https://www.secamb.nhs.uk/.  

Happy Retirement

Mrs Birbeck from the School Office is retiring today and will be starting a new chapter in her life. 

We would like to thank her for all her years of dedication and hard work. She will be missed by all the staff, pupils and wider St. Paul's community.

Please ensure you DO NOT park in the minibus area next to the main school entrance as access is required frequently throughout the day.

 It also increases the risk of accidents especially with young children at drop off and pick up times. 

Thank you for your continued support.  

Nursery

This week in the nursery the children have enjoyed listening to the story 'WOW! Said the Owl' by Tim Hopgood. To link with this we have been exploring colours, including; mixing paint colours, talking about our favourite colours, and going on a colour walk to try and find different colours in the environment. The children have also excitedly started to brush their teeth, supporting their developing independent self-care and physical skills.

Mitre Shaping the Game

On Thursday, ten children were chosen to attend Fratton Park where they took part in an event delivered by Mitre the manufacturers of the FA cup football. The children gained a unique insight into the football industry and learnt about the football industry beyond playing, coaching, and officiating. They also took part in a workshop  that focused on the design and science process of football creation and had chance to have a photo taken with the FA Cup that Portsmouth famously won in 2008.  

A huge welcome and congratulations to all the children in St Peter and St Anne classes.  We are incredibly proud of how well you have all settled into coming into school and getting to know both the other children, adults and routines of the school day.  

We cannot wait to continue watching you flourish at St Paul's. 

Special Visitors

On Tuesday afternoon, we were grateful to host special visitors from Bamenda. Fr Emanuel Rinda kindly organized the visit and together with Gr Charles Ngoubi, Fr Bernardine Nsom and Miss Clotilda Binwi they met our Prayer Leaders to share the importance of prayer and how our Catholic Social Teaching values and actions are important for children less fortunate than us. 

The Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth and the Catholic Archdiocese of Bamenda (in Cameroon) are linked through a diocesan twinning established in 1974, demonstrating Christian brotherhood as outlined in the Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes. This historic link continues today with the Portsmouth Diocese supporting projects and sharing information about the situation in Bamenda.

Mercedes and Alisson shared that it had been an exciting opportunity to meet the visitors and share faith.

School Nurse

The Portsmouth School Nursing team work across all Portsmouth schools and offer a wide range of support including. Their role is to support the health and well being of school age children by promoting good health to enable children to reach their full potential. Below are some of the services they offer.

• Emotional wellbeing advice

• Help with sleep, toileting, and healthy weight

• Immunisations (e.g. flu and HPV)

• Support for complex health needs

• 1:1 sessions with children and young people

• Drop-ins and clinics for families

If you would like to access this service please let the School Office know. Further support can be found at the below website.

0-19 Health Visiting and School Nursing

Liturgy of the Hours

On Wednesday, Father Andrew led the Year 5 and 6 students in the Liturgy of the Hours, inviting them to reflect on the Jubilee Year of Hope and how God calls them to live with trust and joy. After the liturgy, he blessed the Year 5/ 6 classrooms, asking for God’s presence to guide the children’s learning, friendships, and daily lives with hope and peace. 

Thank you to the parents who joined the children for this special liturgy.  

Nursery

This week some of the nursery children went on a 'listening walk'. We explored the school environment and took a few moments to stop and listen to the sounds around us.  Arthur could hear a "dragon aeroplane" and Noelle could hear the "wind". As we carried on walking we could hear cars on the motorway, birds in the sky, a train and children playing in the school. We have also enjoyed listening to our book of the week 'Each Peach Pear Plum'.

Please ensure you DO NOT park in the minibus area next to the main school entrance as access is required frequently throughout the day. It also increases the risk of accidents especially with young children at drop off and pick up times. Thank you for your continued support.  

One-Way Collection System

The one-way collection system at the end of the school day was put in place during covid and remains.  This system is manned by staff from the school as well as SLT. It ensures that parents have an opportunity to speak with class teachers, see other members of the school staff that they may wish to speak with, enables a smoother flow to the younger year group classes and ensures staff send children to the correct parents.  I have also had a number of parents express their preference to this system as when suffering with anxiety the previous system was overwhelming.  Many thanks in advance for your continued support.

Parent Communications

At St Paul's, the Arbor App is our main communication platform. It is really important that ALL parent/carers have downloaded and signed up for Arbor.

Parents/Carers will regularly receive in-app AND email messages via Arbor. Please ensure you are logged in and have the most up to date App and that you are regularly checking the App and your emails.

We ask that you please check you have allowed push notifications and alerts for both Arbor and your email app (this can be found in your phone settings). This will notify you as soon as you receive a message.

If you have any issues, please contact the school office.

TOP TIP: Did you know you can also report your child's absence via your Arbor App too? Once you are logged in to your App, click on your child's attendance mark and from the next screen you can report their absence. Please ensure you give us a clear reason for their absence.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

Due to some children having severe allergies we are a NUT FREE SCHOOL.  

Please ensure your child does not bring any foods or snacks to school that contain or may contain nuts - this also includes nutella spread!

As a community we want to protect all our pupils and ensure they feel safe to come to school each day.

Funding Update

We have been lucky enough to have received some funding over the summer break for upgrades to our school.  The Local Authority has funded some new fencing in Key stage one and the Diocese of Portsmouth has funded new windows in KS2. 

We are hugely grateful to them both for improving our school environment 

Whole School Mass

Parents are welcome to join us for our New School Year Mass 

on Wednesday at 10am in the church.

Attendance

Every day at school counts.  Even a few days of missed school can have a significant impact on a child's education and future prospects.  

At primary school, children who attend school nearly every day in Year 6 (95-100% attendance) are 30% more likely to reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths compared to similar pupils who attend 90-95% of the time.   

As a parent or carer, you have an important role in making school attendance a priority. Only keep your child off school when they are genuinely too ill to attend. Book medical appointments and holidays outside of school time whenever possible. And talk to the school if your child is having difficulties with attendance.