St Pius X Catholic Primary School

 Our current Maths unit is Measures: Length and Perimeter. We put our learning into action by going out onto the playground and field to estimate and measure the perimeter of different parts of the outside area. We selected suitable measuring equipment (rulers, metre sticks and trundle wheels) and worked together to measure as accurately as possible. An extra challenge was to convert our measurements from metres into centimetres and vice versa, thinking about how many cm are in a m. Can you estimate the perimeter of the playground?

 International Languages Day Bonjour! At St Pius we learn French as our Modern Foreign Language. Last week it was lovely to celebrate International Languages Day . Many children speak a different language at home and we spent time sharing greetings in various languages including Polish, Hungarian and Spanish. After researching different greetings on the iPads, we made a display so that we wouldn't forget the various greetings. This week we created posters after working as a class to match flags to their greetings. This was fun, active, engaging and led to many discussions about different languages and alphabets. image from Twinkl

  The Proudest Blue by    Ibtihaj Muhammad and S.K. Ali For Book Week 2023, Year 4 have been using The Proudest Blue in our  English lessons.  Focusing on this beautiful, diverse picture book was a brilliant way to  discuss  and celebrate  different religions,  cultures and traditions.  After reading the book, we learnt a little bit about one of the  authors (a fencing Olympic medalist!)  and discussed the message(s) in the book. The themes in this book include kindness, inclusion, inner strength,  taking pride in your beliefs and protecting your family which  also link to some of our School Values. Ben Estera Lilly Poppy Seni Read the book here: The Proudest Blue - Youtube

As part of World Book Week, the children enjoyed swapping teachers for an hour to learn about something new. Mrs Claxton joined Year 3 to teach them a short story for them to retell confidently and clearly. If you would like to see your children in action, please click here for the story Charlie's Bag .  First, the children recited the story altogether - thinking carefully about adding actions to make it easier to remember. Then, the children worked in groups to try to tell the story from memory. They demonstrated reciprocity by working wonderfully together and taking it in turns to share their ideas.  After the children had practised reciting the story, some were confident enough to share their performances with the rest of the class. It was so great to see the children projecting their voices and thinking carefully about their audience when they performed. "I felt very confident to perform in front of the class; it was fun to share the actions we created as a group with ever...

 We enjoyed learning that in other countries people speak different languages. We spent some time celebrating the languages that are spoken at home in our own class.  'I speak another language at home with my Mummy and Daddy.' - Maria  We then learned the popular song 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes' in French. The children enjoyed looking at a map to find where France was and learning that they communicate in a different language.  We think they did brilliantly after only a few practises! Well done Reception! 

In year one we are very excited to be starting our new IPC topic this week. We are going to be learning lots about the local environment, how plants grow and what they need to survive – a perfect time for this is Spring! We used BBC bitesize to find out more ( you might what to have a look at this again at home too!) https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpxnyrd/articles/zxxsyrd Over the coming weeks we will be finding out about local wildlife and how plants grow. We will be using a range of fiction and non-fiction books that are set in familiar environments to support our learning. To begin our topic we decided that the best way to learn was to get outside and immerse ourselves in an afternoon of nature! We have all chose our nature names that we use in the nature garden when we do outdoor learning (ask your child theirs!). We went on a nature walk looking at the different materials – natural and man made around the nature area and spent time listening to the sounds around ...

  Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday Year One have had a great time today learning about the importance of Shrove Tuesday in the church Calendar. We found out about the reasons behind eating Pancakes and how other people celebrate around the world. We listened to stories about Lent and talked about why we change the cloth on our prayer table to purple tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, to signify the start of Lent, a time of waiting. We also all had the chance to have pancakes with various toppings and fruit for snack today – which we loved. If you’re having pancakes at home too we would love to see your photos!                                                                             Over the coming weeks we will be continuing to look at special meals so please keep sending in your photos of you ...

Founder's Day celebrates the values and commitments of those involved in Scouting. Thank you to those children who came to school proudly wearing their uniforms! It was great to see the badges you have earned and to hear about why you enjoy being part of this community. Nyara in Year 4 said “ I like my seconder badge and it is super fun and we have many adventures.” Willow in Year 4 said “I like Brownies because I learn survival skills and make amazing friends.” Sonny in Year 4 said “What I like about cubs is the out of this world adventures!”

Reception have started their learning around Traditional tales.  This week we have been reading ‘Goldilocks and the three bears’. The children have been reading a lot of different versions of the story looking for similarities and differences and over the next few weeks we will be finding trends and patterns across different traditional tales.  We applied some of our Maths learning from last term to make porridge. Our recipe had the ingredients listed in cups: full cups, half full cups and empty cups.  We made it together in the classroom using our camera to show how the ingredients changed as they were heated.  Once it was cooked we then topped it with some jam and enjoyed as part of our snack time.  ‘This is just right, like baby bear’s porridge’ - Cassius 

The Year 6 children have been working hard to consolidate their understanding of sound from their prior learning. This term, they have been exploring pitch and frequency.  The children were reminded that pitch is how high or low a sound is - the frequency of the vibration. The higher the frequency, the higher the note heard. It was then their job to determine what can affect an instrument's pitch.  After playing around with a range of different instruments, the children were able to draw their conclusions.  "I noticed that the shorter notes on the xylophone produced higher pitched notes." Elizabeth "When we played the Boomwhackers, I saw that the longer Boomwhackers produced lower pitched notes." Lilyanne  Outstanding work, as always, Year 6!

  Congratulations to our  Stars of the week this week Noel, Vinnie, Ava, Nina, Florence,  Eva-Jayne, Sean

During this half term, year 5 have had forest school every Thursday morning,  they have had unforgettable experiences from roasting marshmallows by the fire, making bow and arrows, to designing and making their own bird feeders! Fantastic work everyone in year 5!  "My arrow reached the furthest distance out of everyone! it was brilliant!" Isha "Outdoor learning is excellent, I love being outdoors, I feel as though I am ready to learn when returning to the classroom afterwards." Joseph

This week we were very lucky to have William's mum come into school to share with us some of her knowledge around wildlife. Mrs Driver is studying environmental science and is a keen wildlife photographer. She came into Reception to support our learning about 'Our Wonderful World' and to discuss her photos and the wildlife she has seen in our local area, and around Chelmsford.  The children were fascinated by her pictures and all learned a thing or two about wildlife! Did you know that a slow worm is neither a worm or a snake? It is a legless reptile!  The children listened very well and asked some wonderful questions. They particuarly enjoyed discussing the wildlife they have seen before.  Thank you very much Mrs Driver! 

  STARS OF THE WEEK  03.02.2023 Well done to our Stars of the week: Joshua, Janae, Milan, Elizabeth,  Jayan, Ella, Lisandra

 This week we have taken our topic 'Our wonderful world' out of this world and into space. We made a human model of the solar system. The children enjoyed learning the fundamentals about our solar system using chalk and our friends to model being planets. We learned that the sun does not move and stays in one place at all times. The children then learned the names of the 8 planets in our solar system and the order in which they are placed from the sun. 'We live on the Earth. It is the third planet from the sun.' - Alex  'The sun doesn't move, the planets go around it,' - Brian  We then drew their orbits in chalk on the playground and asked one person to walk along the orbit of each planet showing how they orbit around the sun. Each time we added a planet the solar system got ‘busier’ as each ‘planet’ orbited the sun. The children had to make sure to stay on their path to show each planets strict orbit journey. We learned that the planets further away from t...

Year 6 have worked so hard this half term and have consistently demonstrated outstanding behaviour. We therefore thought they deserved a bit of a treat this afternoon, so we had some fun outside by the campfire! The children roasted marshmallows and built their own s'mores with chocolate biscuits to enjoy. It was so lovely for the children to enjoy some quality time together and celebrate all their hard work over the past few weeks. "This s'more is absolutely delicious. I think I'm in heaven!" Jason "I love being round a campfire; it reminds me of when I go camping with my family!" Darcie A well-earned treat for Year 6 this afternoon!