St Pius X Catholic Primary School

Today in Year 4, we made our own digestive system using different ingredients and apparatus. First we broke up a slice of bread to model the idea of our teeth grinding up food into smaller pieces. Then we mashed up a banana and added water to create the idea of saliva. We used a funnel to represent the oesophagus and emptied this into our stomach (bag filled with orange juice). Lastly we used a pair of tights as our intestines. The children thoroughly enjoyed this lesson and actively taking part in being the different digestive organs! After researching this topic over the last week, it was a great opportunity for the children to apply their subject knowledge. The children were able to confidently identify the main organs within the digestive system and explain the different roles they had to break down food. Fantastic work Year 4! ☺ 'I really enjoyed the experiment and would like to do more things like this!'    Nyara 'I liked looking at the food being squished in the oran...

 This morning Years 3 and 4 had a special guest from Essex and Suffolk Water to teach us about the ripple effect of saving water in our homes. The children had a great time and enjoyed lots of practical activities.  "It is really important to save water." Lilly. "I really enjoyed all of the activities." Milan

Some of our Year 4 children participated today in the Mighty Oak Competition. They did extremely well and did our school proud! They all spoke with such confidence and clarity! Well done!  'I really enjoyed that we got to experience this. It was really good fun, I loved it! It was a great time for my friends and I'  Anu   'My favourite thing was eating the snacks during the break and when I had to say my lines against the other school. I think all of our team did really well. Well done Team!'   Angelin   'Today was the best day because I was a Poetry Line Reader for the Mighty Oak Competition. I was so nervous at first but it was actually really exciting!'   Eva My favourite part was when I spoke in front of a huge audience and my Dad!   Estera   'I was excited and nervous for this fantastic event! I felt very proud of myself. My favourite part was when I asked the question to the speaker in the other team.'  ...

This week we have used our junk modelling materials to make boats as part of our topic of 'Transport and Journeys'.  We completed an experiment at the beginning of the week, testing which materials and shapes float and sink. We used this information when making our boats. The children used sticks, paper, bottles and cardboard to make their own boats. We then experimented with them in the water tray to see if they floated. We have been working scientifically and making observations and engaging in practical enquiries to answer questions.   As they were floating we noticed that they were moving and thought about what was making them move. 'The wind is pushing my boat along. ' - Amayah ' My boat is staying up, it is floating.' - Alex All of our boats floated in the tray - well done reception.

 We are currently studying the bard himself... William Shakespeare! After researching about this well-known poet and playwright, we have learnt about the Globe Theatre in London. We have considered the historical significance, and compared it to modern theatres, considering life in Tudor times. We are currently reading Macbeth, one of his most famous tragedies. Although it is a dark tale of power, we are enjoying Shakespeare's vivid and sometimes gruesome descriptions and look forward to some drama activities linked to the story! We have been watching the BBC animated version to help us imagine the action. Below are examples of storyboards we created based on the opening, including quotes from the text. We have also created Shakespearean compliments, using historical language. We wrote some for our friends too! 'Thou gallant, honey-tongued wafer-cake!' (Lilly) 'Thou sweet, best-tempered cuckoo-bud!' (Jessica) 'Thou rare, young-eyed toast!' (Aiden)

  (image from google) World Art Day is celebrated on 15th April (honouring the birthday of Leonardo Da Vinci). It is a representation of multicultural diversity, freedom of expression and creativity. As a school we marked this occasion by studying the Elements of Art. These include: colour, shape, form, line, patterns, tone, value, shade and texture.  The children have enjoyed honing their artistic skills by engaging in Artist Studies, evaluating different types of Art, expressing their opinions and getting creative! The Tate Kids website has blogs, games and activities to check out! See below for examples of work.... Year Reception - we experimented with materials and texture to create cars! Year 1 - we have been exploring historical people and creating  portraits, looking at shape and tone! Year 2 - we have been painting landscapes ! (See separate blog) Year 3 - we have been exploring colour ! Year 4 - we have been getting creative by making wire sculptures to explor...

  P lease find a link here  to Year 4's Curriculum Newsletter for the Summer term. The newsletter provides key dates for the term and an overview of some of the topics the children will be covering.  Many thanks for your continued support.  The Year 4 Team

Year One have got off to the start of the summer term with a bang! Thank you to all of the Year One families for their efforts with the ‘People from the Past’ costumes and their fact finding mission ahead of the start of our new topic. We started our new IPC topic with a bang with the to come to school as a person from the past. We spent time talking about the people we were representing and why they were important historical figures. We are also revisiting our school values and looking the people who represent these values. Have a look at our photos and see if you can guess who we are! Did you know that David Attenborough has never passed his driving test and that he does not own any cars? Have you hear about Rosie the Riviter and how her image supported women to lead work forces in the States during World War Two? We are so excited about this new topic and learning about people who have been important in history. We know that history is anything that has past so history is yest...

 In year 2 we love our art! To celebrate world art day we created landscapes using different colours, while working on perspective techniques. I love drawing and experimenting with different types of Art -  Jashryl

Please see above for details of a creative writing competition run by the local libraries… 

Please find a link  here  to Reception's Curriculum Newsletter for the Summer term. The newsletter provides key dates for the term and an overview of some of the topics the children will be covering.  Many thanks for your continued support.  The Reception Team

Please find a link  here to Year 6's Curriculum Newsletter for their final term with us at St Pius X. The newsletter provides key dates for the term and an overview of some of the topics the children will be covering.  We look forward to making this final term as special as possible for our Year 6s! Many thanks for your continued support.  Mrs Claxton

We love our outdoor space and it helps to develop a range of our skills.  We enjoy playing with our large construction pieces to make a variety of structures. The children like to make houses and forts together and then role play in them. This week these boys made this wonderful house and then enjoyed playing in it together imagining there were leaks that they had to fix. This play has developed their social relationships, turn taking, listening and communicating skills and their core strength through lifting the resources.  Our focus for this week is road safety and cars. During our outdoor learning time the children asked for roads including road signs to be drawn on the floor.  They then used the bikes and role played using them as cars. They practised following the road safety rules we have learned such as crossing at a zebra crossing.  ‘You have to look and listen and then you can cross over the zebra. I heard and saw Alex on his bike so I waited for him to come...