St Pius X Catholic Primary School

  Today, Year 6 participated in a creative writing planning session. We relocated to the school hall, where we collaborated in small groups to exchange ideas and deliberate on ways to enhance our work. Our task involved crafting an alternative opening for our latest novel, Holes. We delved into the possibility of a different setting and brainstormed ways to develop the central character. Everyone worked collaboratively and planned some exciting alternative beginnings. 

 This term our learning is around the theme 'Let's Celebrate'. Each week we will be exploring  new celebrations and thinking about their meanings.  Our first one has been Bonfire Night. The children have enjoyed looking into the past to learn the History of this Celebration and why Bonfire Night is celebrated. They have also enjoyed creating fire safety posters, sparklers and creating firework pictures.  As today was the 5th of November we decided to enjoy a Bonfire in our wildlife area. We lit the fire highlighting the safety tips for being around fire and enjoyed watching it for a few moments. We used our senses to explore the fire in more depth.  “I can hear cracking” Thea “It smells like smoke” Olive We then enjoyed performing the poem we had learned for Bonfire night!  To top our afternoon off, we enjoyed toasting marshmallows around the fire and tasting them.  The children all followed the safety rules and behaved really well taking it in turns to use the toasting sti

 Today, Year 4 was introduced to their new IPC topic: Scavengers and Settlers. Over the next few weeks, we'll be exploring the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. To start us off, our students were encouraged to come dressed in themed clothes for the day.  The day's activities were focused on key inventions through prehistoric ages from the first stone tools to the invention of money and writing. We took part in a number of different activities that replicated how our ancestors may have created the same items. We tried carving our own Stone Age sculptures, and creating our own cave painting. Then we tried our hands at weaving and creating clay coil pots. Finally we found out about the first known writing (cuneiform) and tried writing our initials on mini tablets and looked at the first coins made in Turkey and tried our hand at making some.  "I want to learn more about the Iron Age and Bronze Age." Tylor "I really enjoyed making the clay pots" Evangelin &quo

 As part of service week, year 3 did a tremendous job at tidying the driveway area outside our classroom. We got hands on, using the brooms and sweeping up all of the autumn leaves. It's important to look after our school and this was our way of showing it! I swept up so many leaves! It looks really tidy now -  Henry

We have explored how the seasons have changed since joining school and our learning has focused around Autumn this week.  The children have explored conkers, acorns, seasonal squashes, a range of crispy coloured leaves and thought about how the weather has changed.  We finished off our learning this week by completing an Autumn walk. The children used their learning power of resourcefulness as we explored our Forest School area for the first time. The children enjoyed using their observational skills for signs of Autumn.  They found: coloured leaves, acorns, pine cones and twigs on the floor.  The children said:  “I found a yellow and brown leaf” Maya “ I saw a red leaf it was on the floor “ Ayn Ann “I found red berries in the tree. I didn’t pick them though” Thea This also linked wonderfully to end our RE topic of Creation and Covenant as we ended our session with a prayer to thank God for his beautiful creation and all the wonderful things we find in Autumn. 

In preparation for the upcoming Hindu festival of Diwali next week, pupils from Year 5 and Year 6 participated in a creative activity by designing rangoli patterns using chalk.  Rangoli, a traditional art form, is often created during Diwali to bring good luck and positivity. The pupils explored various intricate designs, bringing vibrant patterns to life, while learning about the cultural significance of the festival.  The activity was not only a celebration of Diwali but also a great opportunity for the students to express their creativity and appreciate diverse traditions.

As part of Service Week, Year 6 pupils participated in a book-sharing activity with Year 1 pupils. Each Year 6 pupil paired up with a younger pupil, reading stories aloud and discussing the books together. This encouraged reading and helped Year 1 students develop their skills, while Year 6 students took on mentoring roles.  The activity was a positive experience for both groups, fostering a sense of community and promoting a love for reading during Service Week.

As part of their spiritual and leadership development, Year 6 pupils were given the responsibility to plan and lead a Collective Worship session for Year 5. This opportunity allowed them to demonstrate their growing understanding of the importance of service, tying into the theme of Service Week , which was the focus of the school’s religious curriculum during this time. The pupils reflected on the meaning of service within a Catholic context, discussing how acts of service are a way to live out the teachings of Jesus. The pupils selected prayers, readings, and hymns that aligned with this message, focusing on kindness, selflessness, and love for one another. The worship session began with a welcome and an opening prayer, led confidently by the Year 6 pupils. The theme of service was introduced, and they spoke about how we can serve in small, everyday ways—helping friends, being kind to family members, and taking care of the school environment. The service also included reading, hymns,

This week is our Service week in school and we have been reflecting on our school value of service . We have been able to link this to our learning in class.  Last week, we enjoyed exploring real life heroes. We discussed how they serve our community and help others. We particularly enjoyed it when the fire fighters came to visit. We reflected on this and wanted to show them an act of service in return.  The children worked carefully to create a vibrant ‘Thank you’ card for the firefighters. They really took their time over the pictures and worked hard to choose the right colours to make their paintings. We all signed the card with our name and will deliver this to the local fire station!  Our RE topic of Creation and Covenant has also linked to our service week. The children have read the Creation Bible story and spent some time thinking about how wonderful God’s marvellous creation is!  In RE this week we learned that we are all stewards for God’s world and we reflected on ways we ca

Today Year 2 carried out some market research as part of their Design and Technology project - Super Smoothies! They have just learnt about healthy eating and the different food groups in Science, so this builds upon their prior learning of a balanced diet and the effects of good nutrition on their bodies. They used all of their senses to evaluate each smoothie and give it a star rating. Then they thought about the flavours and ingredients in preparation for designing and making their own smoothies after half term.  Cassius: I love this one! Alex: I can taste blueberries! Amelia: This one is juicy! Nina: I do not like the green one!

An extra special congratulations to Emma, Sophia and Raveena in Year 5 as they worked incredibly hard on a science project at home. Researching using secondary sources, the girls were able to learn lots of information about the lungs and present it really creatively.    They demonstrated one of the most important learning powers as they worked together on this project, reciprocity, which was brilliant to see. As a reward for all their hard work, they each earned a Super Scientist certificate!  Excellent work!

This week Year 6 successfully completed their IPC International Goal focused on understanding how environmental disasters influence human migration. To engage with the topic meaningfully, the children participated in a letter-writing exercise addressed to a refugee. In their letters, they expressed empathy and considered various forms of support that they could offer to those affected by such crises. Following this activity, we further reflected on the theme of migration during our RE lesson. The children wrote heartfelt prayers for individuals who are compelled to migrate due to natural disasters, fostering a sense of compassion and awareness about the challenges faced by these communities. Overall, this week’s activities not only deepened the students' understanding of global issues but also encouraged them to think critically about the role of compassion and support in times of crisis.

  Exit point – In year 3,we presented a selection of all our favourite investigations/experiments and what we have learned during the making waves unit. This included how light and sound travel and the key scientific vocabulary we’ve learned such as: vibrations, sound waves, opaque, transparent and reflective. The children also shared what enquiry types they have been using; fair and comparative testing and pattern seeking. We presented all this amazing learning to the other children in our milepost! Here, Jamie and Lexi show the class how sound can travel through an object and how it can change the pitch of the sound they hear! My favourite lesson was when we set up a load of different stations to find out how sound travels through different objects Olive

Our learning at the moment is focused around ‘Real life heroes'. This has been an excellent way to link to our Black History Month focus. We have been listening to a fantastic playlist of music each morning celebrating many black artists through time. We are also looking forward to having our school librarian in next week to read us a story and to recommend some books written by black authors too.  This week we have learned all about the Emergency Services and how they are real life heroes.  We went back in time to learn all about Mary Seacole - an influential black nurse during the Crimean War and beyond.  The children have loved exploring the idea of the past and we have explored the many wonderful things that Mary Seacole had done including supporting soldiers through the war and helping to set up hospitals here in the UK after the war. She was definitely a real life hero! This helpful and catchy   song  helped us with our learning. We were able to link this learning to our scho

We were so excited that the fire service came to visit Reception and Year One today. Neil, the fire fighter, spoke to us about the emergency services and that they are there to help us. He gave us detail about all the different things the fire service do such as moving large items, helping animals, helping at crashes and of course putting out fires. We linked their jobs to our school value of service. The children learned how we can take our school values into our wider lives and even in to our future jobs.  He taught us what to do if we discover a fire!  We focused on the 3 'OUTS' - Get out!  - Stay out!  - Get the fire service out! The children learned that a fire fighter has to train for 16 weeks in order to do their job. Neil asked how many fire fighters the children thought were on a fire engine. “I think 8” Denzel We learnt that there are 6. The children were given the opportunity to try on his jacket and or hat. “The jacket is heavy “ Thea Unfortunately, all the fire eng

 Today the school council meet for the first time this year. Say hello to our members... Representing Reception class this year is Ava (Year 6), Year 1's representative is Eva and Year 2 is Skylar. In Key Stage 2, we have Tolu representing Year 3, Elodie in Year 4, Vanishka in Year 5 and Willow is representing Year 6. We are also joined by our Eco monitors: Hannah and Melvin. All our members are excited for the opportunity to represent our school and make it a better place to be. "I want to show my class that I can be a leader and make my class a better class." -Vanishka "I want to be a leader, have fun and show I can be responsible....if you work hard you can get what you want." Ava "I want to help the school and make it a better place and make sure they have a safe environment." Elodie

 Last week was World Mental Health Day. Students in Year One and throughout the school took part in activities to promote mental well-being. In Year One, we discussed the zones of regulation (green zone, yellow zone, blue zone, and red zone) and what emotions you might be feeling in each. Then, we discussed different strategies we could use to help bring us back into the green zone! Students made 'toolkits' and drew pictures of strategies that help them. "Asking someone for a hug helps me feel calm" - Ava-Grace "Five-finger breathing helps bring me back to the green zone" - Kiara "Playing with toy cars helps make me feel happy" - Aibel "Going on my trampoline or for a walk helps to make me feel better" - Eva "Talking to my mum and dad helps to make me feel better" - Catherine "Listening to music helps to bring me back to the green zone" - Hannah Then we did some yoga as a class! We discussed the benefits of yoga, and h