St Pius X Catholic Primary School

 

 To conclude our recent topic 'Buildings,' Year 2 have been extremely busy preparing for their class art gallery! They recently finished their Van Gogh inspired paintings and have been learning new skills in order to create a wooden frame for their artwork! The children were shown a demonstration of how to use the hack saw safely to cut their wood. They measured their pieces of wood so they would fit around their painting, decorated them and then used the saw to cut them to size! The children then had a chance to walk around the class gallery to see what everyone had created! Gershlene said ' we might be inspired by someone in our class!' Finally, they gave positive feedback to a classmate, commenting on their artwork, frame or overall finished piece! This reciprocity was lovely to see - well done!!

This week, our Year 5 explorers took to the "skies" to investigate one of the most invisible yet powerful forces on Earth: Air Resistance . The Question : Does the size of a parachute change how fast an object falls to the ground? Before we started, the class made their hypotheses . Most of our scientists predicted that the larger parachute would be slower, but they needed the data to prove it! The children made their own parachutes of contrasting sizes and attached a paper clip to them to test them.  The results were clear! The large tissue paper parachute consistently drifted slowly to the ground, while the small parachute plummeted much faster. Why did this happen? It all comes down to Surface Area . As the paperclip pulls the parachute down due to gravity , the tissue paper has to push its way through the air. Large Surface Area: The big parachute hits more air particles as it falls. This creates more air resistance, which pushes up against the parachute and slows the ...

This half term, we are learning all about transport and vehicles and this week, we started by learning about cars and the road. We had a visitor join us from Safer Essex to deliver a road safety talk and interactive session to the children and parents.  The interactive session allowed children to identify different vehicles we might see on the road and taught them the Green Cross Code.  We learnt an accompanying song to help us remember the rules to 'Stop, Look, Listen and Think'.  During the session, children and grown ups were given the chance to practice crossing a pretend road using the Green Cross Code.  'We must look before we cross the road or we might die'- Lydia  'Look both ways'- Brian  'Some cars can even reverse and might not see us'- Ethan  Then throughout the week, we made our own road safety posters explaining the rules of crossing the road and sang the song lots of times! 

 We are incredibly proud to celebrate the fantastic achievement of four of our Year 4 pupils, who recently competed in a Mini Wimbledon tennis tournament against 13 local schools. Showing determination, teamwork and impressive skill, our team played brilliantly throughout the competition, winning match after match to secure an outstanding 2nd place finish. Finishing second out of 13 schools is a remarkable accomplishment in itself but the excitement doesn’t stop there! By achieving this result, the team has now qualified for the finals, where they will have the opportunity to compete at an even higher level. Congratulations Florence, Henry, Lexi and Joshua!  

 This term in Religious Education, our Year 3 class explored the powerful and thought-provoking story of the Road to Emmaus. Found in the Gospel of Luke, this story tells of two disciples walking to a village called Emmaus after the events of Easter, feeling confused and saddened. Along the way, they meet a stranger who walks and talks with them, only later do they realise that it is Jesus himself. To bring this story to life, the children took part in a creative and collaborative activity, recreating the journey in small groups. This hands-on approach allowed pupils not only to understand the sequence of events but also to reflect more deeply on the emotions and meaning behind the story. It carries a very important message Blessed

  Year 1 P.E. — Speed, Agility and Coordination This week in P.E., our Year 1 children explored the exciting world of speed, agility, and coordination through a series of fun, active challenges designed to build confidence and control. 🏃‍♀️ Starter: Warming Up Our Bodies We began with a lively warm-up to get hearts pumping and muscles ready. Children practised moving in different ways — jogging, hopping, skipping, and side-stepping — focusing on quick reactions and smooth transitions. 🌉 Balancing on Beam Bridges Next, we tested our balance and concentration on beam bridges. Children carefully walked across, arms stretched out for stability, learning how to control their movements and keep steady from start to finish. 🌀 Running Through Slalom Poles Our slalom challenge encouraged children to weave in and out of poles, practising agility and spatial awareness . They learned to change direction quickly while keeping their eyes forward and maintaining rhythm. 🪢 Balancing on a Rop...

  In Art Year 2 have been studying ' cityscapes'   and comparing them to the famous 'Starry Night' painting by Van Gogh. We used the Tate kids website ( click here ) to find out more about the artist. Here are some of the cityscapes they looked at: They then looked closer at Van Gogh' s painting, picking out colours, patterns and techniques used by the artist. By zooming in, they could see that the brushstrokes were short like dashes and that there were swirls and dots which made up the bigger picture. They also took note of the colour scheme before applying this to their own experimentation in their sketchbooks using pastels. After this, they used paint , considering how to made different shades of blue, to create their own starry night! It is brilliant to see that every single one is different even though they have been inspired by the same picture! Next the children drew and cut out silhouettes of buildings and trees to place in the foreground. The final (and ...

 Before the Easter break, year 5 embarked on a DT project in which they had to learn to sew!  The children spent time learning some essential skills such as threading the needle, a running stitch and a back stitch. They mastered these difficult steps before designing their own sewing square to complete.   'It was really fun and I enjoyed using the thread to create a running stitch.' - Emanuela  'We learned a cross stitch and a back stitch - we learned to loop it right to left, not under and over.' - Isabella  They were able to use a variety of colours to create their designs and were able to choose the stitch that would match their creations the best!  We were very proud of their resilience and determination while learning this new skill! Well done year 5!

 Thank you to all the parents who spent time helping their children to make their own Easter bonnets. They all looked amazing and could see all the effort that went into making them so special. The children got to show everyone during celebration assembly and the winner, Da'Jean, got to choose an Easter egg as his prize.   

 This week in Reception, we have been building on our previous learning of 2D shapes, by now exploring 3D shapes.  Throughout the week, we learnt the names of the shapes and looked at their characteristics, e.g what shape faces they had, how many corners there are and whether the edges are straight or curved. The children used their knowledge of 2D shape names to help them with identifying the faces on the 3D shapes.  We then went on a shape hunt outside to see if we could find any real life objects which matched our 3D shapes. 

As we come to the end of another successful term, I would like to take a moment to thank all of our staff for their continued hard work and dedication. Their commitment ensures that our pupils continue to thrive and it's important to pause and reflect on how lucky we all are to be part of such a great school community.  It has been wonderful to see the progress the children have made across the school. A special thank you goes to our Year 3 and Year 4 pupils for their truly wonderful Easter production. The children brought the story of Holy Week and Jesus’ resurrection to life with confidence and enthusiasm. Their acting was excellent, especially remembering all those lines and we were treated to some beautiful singing, including impressive solo performances. They told the story with great care and helped remind us all of the true meaning of Easter: a message of hope, love and new life, as we reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection, and the promise of eternal ...

 This week, all of Year 3 and 4's hard work has paid off for the Easter production: Easter Praise. Both classes did an amazing job and are very proud of themselves. Year 3 sang beautifully while the Year 4s dazzled us with some brilliant acting. Harley took the lead as Jesus, while Olive (Judas) and Florence (Peter) delighted the audience with a solo each. The play drew to a close with a duet from Tolu and Michelle (the Marys). All of their hard work came together in the highly enjoyable play.  On Monday, they performed in front of the school for their dress rehearsal.  Guests for our local community. For the first time, on Wednesday, we opened the performance to the local community. We were joined by Mr Coen (the Head Teacher of Saint John Payne), Some representatives of the Knight of Saint Columba, the SVP, the Wisdom Club and others in the local churches. It was very nerve-racking to perform in front of strangers, but they did a super job and our guests thoroughly enjo...

 Year 2 have had lots of fun this half term during their Forest School sessions! This outdoor learning is a great opportunity to foster a love for nature, as well as learn new skills. Today Year 2 celebrated their last session by oasting marshmallows on the camp fire!

  Pupils from St Pius X School enjoyed an exciting and action-packed day of padel at Beaulieu Padel Club, showing great enthusiasm and sportsmanship throughout. The team played brilliantly across their matches, securing two impressive wins in their league games. Even in their two losses, they showed incredible determination—missing out by just two points each time, which is a testament to how closely contested the matches were. It was a special day filled with teamwork, effort, and smiles all around. The children represented their school superbly and should be very proud of their performances. Well done to everyone involved! That was so much fun, I'm going to go back and play again in the holidays! Alfie 

  Our Key Stage 2 hockey team recently put in a fantastic performance at a tournament held at Chelmer Park . Competing as one of 30 teams, they showed great determination, teamwork and skill throughout the day. The players worked brilliantly together, supporting each other in both attack and defence and gained valuable experience in a series of exciting matches. Finishing 8th overall is an excellent achievement and a real credit to their hard work and positive attitude. Well done to the whole team!

Over the last few weeks, Year 5 have been transformed into scientists, and last week, we finally reached the "graduation day" for our very own spider plants. To understand where these new plants came from, we’ve been diving deep into the world of plant reproduction . The children learned that while many plants grow from seeds (sexual reproduction), others are masters of cloning themselves! We discovered that spider plants are experts at asexual reproduction . They send out long stems called "runners," which grow tiny baby plants—or plantlets —at the ends. Because these plantlets are genetically identical to the parent, every child is essentially taking home a "mini-me" of our classroom plant! There was a real buzz in the room as everyone got their hands dirty! The children carefully tucked their plantlets into their new pots, ensuring the soil was firm but not too tight. These plants are now ready to head home to brighten up windowsills across the communit...

Year 2's RE topic is called 'Desert to Garden.'  They have been exploring the important parts of the Easter story, including the Last Supper and Good Friday. They looked at the famous painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci and explained what was being shown. They were familiar with Mass and the important symbols of the bread and wine. They then applied this to their own lives by thinking about how they could share with and care for others, just like Jesus did! When learning about Good Friday , the children had to think deeply about this difficult event. They considered why we call it Good Friday: 'Jesus dies for us; he loves us!' - Benjamin 'It was good because Jesus didn't die forever. He rose again,' - Logan 'Jesus is risen!' - Mia 'He forgave everybody's sins,' - Hannah To celebrate this good news, the children used pastels and negative space to create a Good Friday picture, referring to the scripture we had read ( L...

  🌟 Exploring Mass and Capacity in Year 1! 🌟 This week in Year 1, our young mathematicians have been busy investigating the wonderful world of mass and capacity . Through lots of hands-on exploration, the children have been developing key mathematical vocabulary and deepening their understanding of how we compare and measure everyday objects. ⚖️ Learning About Mass: Heavier or Lighter? We began by exploring mass . The children handled a range of classroom objects and made predictions about whether they thought each item would be heavier or lighter than another. Using balancing scales, they tested their ideas by measuring objects with multi-link cubes . This practical approach helped them see that: If one side of the scale goes down, that object is heavier If it goes up, it is lighter The number of cubes gives a simple, child-friendly way to compare mass The classroom was full of excitement as children discovered that some objects they thought were heavy were actually surprisin...