St Pius X Catholic Primary School

As part of our new IPC topic, AD 900, our Year 6s have started to learn about the ancient Maya world. In design & technology, the children have been working hard to research the Maya people to inform the design of a Maya-inspired mask. As part of the planning process, they thought carefully about the different materials they would like to use and how to convey a specific emotion, observation or experience.  "We made sure to design our masks in line with the theme we had chosen. For example, a funeral mask would look different to a mask that they would have worn in battle."   Tallulah "I really enjoyed planning my mask. It was fun to narrow down all of my ideas into a final design." Eila-Rose We cannot wait to share the finished products with you, once all of the children have completed them!

As part of our PSHE unit: It's Cool to be Kind, Year 6 were fortunate enough to participate in a workshop last week, where they learned all about how to be kind to themselves and strategies they could use to demonstrate resilience in the face of adversity.  The children wrote down and discussed what they liked about themselves and then, if they felt comfortable, were able to share that with their peers. They also spent some time learning how to mediate and thought about techniques they could use to feel calm and regulate their emotions.  "It was very relaxing and calming, especially the meditation." Katie "I really enjoyed writing things down that we liked about ourselves. It is important to be kind to yourself and well as other people." Amelia T Excellent work, Year 6!

  This autumn, year 2 have looked at different fables including The Frog and the Scorpion. Here they are creating a dialogue between the two characters and some dramatisation of the story! In year 2 we love reading different stories and learning them by heart!  ‘ The moral of the story is that a leopard can never change its spots’ Nicola 

St Pius X proudly presents to you the Children in Need Talent Show 2022. Many congratulations to our winners and runners up and to everyone who took part. We never cease to be amazed at the wide ranging talent that the children at St Pius X exhibit. You were all amazing. Please click here to see all the children's performances.  Collectively we have raised £660 for Children in Need. Many thanks to everyone who helped to make this afternoon such a success. 

We have been so impressed with Reception this term. We have all learned to write our names from memory since starting school. They have also learned a range of phonemes and graphemes in phonics this term and are beginning to put these into their writing.  Each lesson we learn a new phoneme (sound) and the children practise reading words with these in and then they are now also beginning to write.  Here are videos of the sounds we know so far:  https://youtu.be/-ZtjFIvA_fs  https://youtu.be/qDu3JAjf-U0 We think they are doing a fantastic job! Well done Reception!

On Tuesday 22nd November year 3 went on a trip to Saffron Walden Museum to be Tomb Raiders and Mummy Makers. We had a fabulous day exploring the museum and taking part in activities. The museum had a real mummy as well as lots of other artifacts that linked in with our topic for this term; Temples, Tombs, and Treasures. In the first activity, we got to touch and learn about items that were found in an Egyptian tomb. Ancient Egyptians were buried with their belongings so they could use them in the afterlife. The items we investigated could have been as old as 7000 years old! Eye of Horus  "It gives protection and a safe transition to the afterlife." - Noel Canopic Jar "The organs were kept inside so they could be taken to the afterlife." - Anna Ushabti "It went with Ancient Egyptians to the afterlife to do jobs for them." - Vanishka We then went through the process of mummification! Whilst we mummified one of our classmates we also followed the process on a...

 A big THANK YOU to everyone who entered the Christmas Card Competition!  Vicky Ford (MP) will be sharing winning entries on social media, so if you have entered, be sure to check over the next couple of weeks. https://www.vickyford.uk/news/2022-christmas-card-competition

During Anti-Bullying Week, Year 4 took part in 'Kindness Bingo'. The children each had a bingo card which gave them ideas of different ways to demonstrate kindness towards others. The children enjoyed completing the ideas on their cards. 

  During Diwali, Year 4 looked at several examples of Rangoli Patterns and discussed them as a class. They then had a go at making their own patterns using chalks on our school playground! The children showed great creativity and detail in their designs, well done Year 4! Yashika said "This was really fun!" Lilly shared "I loved being creative in my pattern".

Year 6 have started reading their new book, Holes, in English this half-term. They have been working hard to think about the impressions they get from the characters and the setting (Camp Green Lake) - using evidence to support all of their ideas.  The children then thought about the question: What if not Camp Green Lake? They demonstrated reciprocity by working in groups to think of adjectives and figurative language they could use to describe an alternative setting that was just as horrible as Camp Green Lake. They will then use these ideas to help plan their own narrative.  "I chose to use the word ominous to describe the setting as I wanted to get across to the reader that something bad might happen here." Jason It was brilliant to see all the children working together to share their very creative ideas. I am certain that their stories are going to be just as impressive! Well done, Year 6!

 Here are some photos of Year 4's TTRS Launch Day!

 As our English focus of 'Stories in imaginary settings' concludes, I would love to share some of the creative and imaginative descriptions Year 4 have included in their stories!  Can you spot any powerful vocabulary, similes, alliteration or descriptions using the 5 senses?  Here are some excerpts from the stories... The Colourful Candy Cane Forest by Amy: T hey walked continuously through the forest and saw lots of portals.... red, green, purple and crystalline blue. The Radio by Estera :  He had a black, misty mask on and a hat of wolf's fur as black as midnight. Nyara : She went to a skate park and did some really exhilarating tricks....After Clawdeen got home she burst with curiosity. The Queen's Coronation by Catherine: Aiden, Anne and Andrew were incensed. The Abandoned House in the forest by Jessica : One day she went on her bike as the sky was shimmering and the clouds were as white as a pillow. Angelin: Then Angelin and Lavender saw a shadowy figu...

Our first class book of the year was 'Stig of the Dump' by Clive King. Barney finds a chalk pit and meets Stig. They become friends and experience some adventures together!  Stig is a resourceful friend - he makes useful things out of other people's 'junk.' We made links to our Stone Age topic - people using natural resources to help them survive. We had lots of discussions as we read together. We enquired about new vocabulary, identified figurative language and made predictions about what the characters might do and how they might react in different situations. We also completed some comprehension work to ensure we understood what was happening in the text. This gave us opportunities to refine our VIPERS reading skills. We ended by writing a book review. Jessica said "I loved the book so much I went and bought it at the weekend!" We are now excited to start our next book 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' by C S Lewis. This links to our Englis...

 * UPDATE! We have made our clay fossils! We referred to our designs in our sketchbooks, and experimented with different tools to mould, shape and imprint designs into our clay. Next week we will be evaluating our fossils - being critical thinkers is an important skill as an artist! As part of our new IPC topic - Scavengers and Settlers - Year 4 have started learning about the process of fossilisation.  We will be learning more about the Stone Age, and fossils give us an insight into the past. Sonny excitedly shared some fossils that he had found in Dorset.  Estera also did some fossil hunting at the weekend: We looked at some fossils and worked together to discuss what we thought they might be! http://www.fossilsforkids.com/Now_and_Then.html Can you guess what these fossils are? What might they tell us about the past? Do these creatures still exist? Who found them? How did they form? Today, after experimenting with sketching techniques to create texture, Year 4 then desi...

  In year 2 we have been learning about Judaism and today, we made our very own Challah bread! Challah if often eaten on special occasions such as Shabbat. "We love Challah" Janelle "This was the best day!" Alfie

To celebrate anti-bullying week in year 6, the children have been thinking about the power of kindness. We discussed how a small act of kindness can have a massive impact on a person's day - it might just be the uplift they needed. "I think about kindness like ripples in water. If you are kind to someone, the kindness spreads and has a positive effect on many different people." Jason The children then thought about what acts of kindness could they show in school - and at home - and they discussed all the times that they had shown kindness.  "I found a wallet with money in it once and handed it in so that it could be returned to the owner . "  Katie We talked about how kindness can be a superpower that all of us can have. The children then designed their own superpower logos to represent kindness - it was brilliant to see all their ideas come to life in their creative designs. More importantly, it was wonderful to see the children taking the message very seriousl...

We have started our Advent topic in RE called Visitors. We will be following this topic for 4 weeks in preparation for the celebration of Jesus at Christmas. This topic emphasises the coming of God, in the person of Jesus, 2,000 years ago at Bethlehem. Jesus was not a passing visitor though, but one that dwelt among us. The joyful expectation of Advent encourages us to take steps to recognise the coming of God into the world today and to believe that in the future this same God will come again in glory. To explore our new topic we first enjoyed the story 'A Visitor for Bear' before engaging in a whole class discussion about how we prepare for visitors to come around and why it's important to do this. There were some amazing ideas and it was a great display of how conscientious the pupils in year 3 are. "We make a really nice meal for visitors to our house." - Raveena "I try to get toys out that I think they'll like." - Jack "I will make tea and ...

  In year 2 we have been talking about how important it is to feel happy coming into school each day. That means treating each other nicely and looking after our friends. We have also been thinking about who we can talk to if we feel like we are being bullied so that we can put a stop to it together. The children created their socks for odd sock day, celebrating how we are all unique! "We can be kind to each other and make sure that we listen" Elodie. "We need no stop bullying right now!" Emil.

Reception have been learning about Judaism in both our RE lessons and part of our wider learning about celebrations. The children have enjoyed exploring the festival of Hanukkah this week and we enjoyed reading the story of Hanukkah Bear. In the story a bear eats all of the Hanukkah Latkes and there are none left for the visiting Rabbi. In the back of the book we found a recipe for Latkes which we decided we wanted to try.  The children did fantastically well using a peeler and grater, developing their fine motor skills. They enjoyed following a recipe with Mrs Wiseman's support and were very responsible thinking about food hygiene. We cooked one Latke in the classroom so the children could see how they are cooked and how the ingredients change while being heated. The classroom smelled so yummy!  ' Mmm, these are tasty.' - William  'I can taste the onion.' - Aisling 'I don't eat onion but they taste yummy in a Latkes.' - Reuben We have placed the recipe ...