St Mary's Weekly
Aspiring, nurturing, flourishing;
together shining a light
Compassion
It has been a busy week back at school after half term. This week we have introduced our new value to guide us in our daily lives, 'Compassion'.
In Collective Worship, we delved into the story of The Good Samaritan to understand the true meaning of compassion - noticing and acting upon a need, without hesitation or judgement.
We have talked about how we can show compassion in our everyday lives. We went on a 'Value Spotting' mission around school and spotted lots of acts of compassion happening all around us, from helping a classmate with a tricky maths problem to comforting a friend who had fallen over. It fills us with such joy to see our pupils embodying this value with such passion and sincerity. Have a look at our Value Spotters display for this week.
Shining a light on...
House Points for this week
House Points so far this term
Effort & Progress in Learning Certificates
Congratulations to the children below who received a special certificate on Friday for 'Effort and Progress in Learning'.
Reception - Maeve
Year 1 - Noah
Year 2 - Lily
Year 3 - Fletcher
Year 4 - Darcie
Year 5 - Tilly
Year 6 - Liam
All the children that received certificates will be celebrating with Mrs Maxwell over a hot chocolate and marshmallows on Monday this week.
Above & Beyond
The children below attended Above and Beyond time on Friday. Children are awarded these special stickers for consistently following our school rules (Respect, Ready, Reflect) and our school values.
This week's children that attended Above and Beyond time -
Norah, Rosalind, Harper, Lucy, Kaiden, Lily, Henry, Duke, Simran, Paul-John, Emmie, Miles, Zoya, Kezia, Saskia, Sebastien , Jamie N and Conor
Times Tables Rockstar
Children in Years 3, 4 and 5 use the TTRockstars programme to support their learning of multiplication tables. Times Tables Rock Stars is an award-winning maths learning platform where children can practise their times tables like a rock star! The question-based games automatically adapt to each child’s unique learning needs, helping them to recall their times tables in record speed. Accessible on any device, via the app or browser, children can play anytime, anywhere. Plus, the engaging gamification and motivating rewards mean it is never difficult to entice children to play.
Congratulations to the children below that received a TTRockstars certificate on Friday for the most effort.
Year 3 - Nancy
Year 4 - Josh
Year 5 - Henning
British Black History Month Showcase
We are so proud of our amazing pupils for creating a spectacular showcase to celebrate Black History Month! From powerful art pieces to inspiring presentations, they have truly brought these influential stories of 'Little People Big Dreams' to life. We continue to celebrate diversity and learn from the incredible achievements of individuals who have made a huge impact in history. 🌎
A massive thank you to Miss Devlin for organising the event! 🌟
Year 6
This week in History, Year 6 begun learning about The Second World War, having learnt about the First World War last half term. We explored how leadership had changed since the end of WW1 and the disagreements that led to the outbreak of WW2 in 1939. We used this learning to create timelines to show these significant events. We are looking forward to exploring this further when we have our Evacuee Day later this half term.
In Art, we have been creating wire figure sculptures as soldiers or nurses from The Great War. We attached the wire to a wooden base and then used paper mache to create the silhouettes. We have been painting them to bring them to life!
Year 4 trip to Farmer Gows
The enthusiastic children in Year 4 embarked on an exciting educational journey to Farmer Gow's Farm. They delved into the world of Green Energy and Electricity; discovering the power of wind and sunlight in generating electricity. To top it off, the children had a special opportunity to visit the Westmill Wind and Solar Farm, where they saw these concepts in action!
Despite the challenging weather conditions, Year 4 exhibited exemplary behaviour. Their resilience and good spirit shone through, even in the face of a torrential downpour.
FoSMS Fireworks Evening
Wow, what an amazing night! The fireworks display was absolutely stunning! 🎆🎇
A special shoutout to FoSMS (Friends of St Mary's) and all the volunteers who helped make this event possible. It truly was a community effort that brought so much joy and excitement.
Fireworks at St Mary's.mp4Tesco Strong Starts Grant
Project title: Vegetable Patch and Composting
Congratulations!
We are thrilled to announce that our project has secured the top spot in the Tesco Stronger Starts vote at our local Tesco stores, earning us a grant award of £1,500.00
Fantastic news for our Eco Council and the wider school community! Exciting times ahead!
Information
Reception Admissions - 2024
The primary application process for 2024/25 opens on 1st November 2023 and closes on 15th January 2024. Hertfordshire County Council’s Admissions & Transport Team will be accepting all applications for children born between 01/04/2019 and 31/08/2019.
You must apply online at: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions.
Celebrating Achievements
We are proud of our pupils and their dedication to learning both in and out of the classroom.
Please share with us any achievements your child has outside of school. Whether it be academic, athletic, artistic, or any other accomplishment, we want to hear about it! We will include these achievements in our school newsletter and shine a light on our talented children.
By shining a light on our children's successes, we can also inspire others to try new experieneces and to reach their full potential as well.
Please send all information to Mrs Palmer.
Key Dates
There are more dates to add but we wanted to get as many to you as possible.
Tuesday 7th November - Reception trip to Odds Farm
Friday 10th November from 3pm - Eco Council will be holding a preloved uniform sale in the school hall
Wednesday 15th November - Year 6 Holocaust workshop in school
Tuesday 21st & Wednesday 22nd November (3.30-6.30pm) - Key Stage Two parent consultations
Tuesday 21st November - Year 3 Ancient Egyptian Day at St Mary's
Thursday 23rd November at 2:15pm - Parent rep meeting
Wednesday 29th November - FoSMS Wreath Night
Friday 1st December - 3:10 - 4:00pm - Key Stage One Disco. NO JD.
Saturday 2nd December - 12noon - 2.00pm - FoSMS Christmas Market
Monday 4th December - Year 2 trip to Maritime Museum
Monday 4th December - afternoon - Reception Nativity Dress Rehearsal (in school event)
Tuesday 5th December - 9:15am - Reception Nativity Performance
Wednesday 6th December - Christmas Jumper Day
Wednesday 6th December - morning - KS1 Nativity Dress Rehearsal (in school event)
Thursday 7th December - 2:00pm - KS1 Nativity Performance
Friday 8th December - 9:15am - KS1 Nativity Performance
Friday 8th December - 3:10 - 4:00pm - Key Stage Two Disco. No JD
Wednesday 13th December - 2:00 - 4:30pm - Sleeping Beauty Panto at Watersmeet. No JD.
Thursday 14th December - afternoon - Years 3 to 6 dress rehearsal for Christmas Service at St Mary's Church
Thursday 14th December - evening - All children from Years 3 to 6 performing at our Christmas service at St Mary's Church
Tuesday 19th December - 1:10pm - End of Term
Community
A message from Rickmansworth Fire Station
CRMP Letter 2023.docWe have such an amazing school and are looking at ways to promote ourselves in the wider community. To do this, we will be developing our use of social media. Please like our new Facebook page and any posts that you enjoy.
