St Pius X Catholic Primary School

Year 2 have been looking at digital media (photographs) in their Computing lessons this term. It has opened up some great discussions about asking permission before taking, editing or sharing a photo of somebody. Today they also thought about what they should do if something happened online, for example: a pop-up advert asking us to click on a link a friend request from someone we don't know a message saying we have won a prize, just enter our details to claim Year 2 were very savvy - they could spot the scams and the unreliable sources ! To consolidate their ideas and learning, they created mini-posters. Their posters explained what to do in different scenarios. It was very pleasing to see the children had a mature attitude towards the possible dangers and that they knew what to do if they were unsure, for example: tell an adult block log off play a different game click the X button to close the window Excellent work Year 2! Here are some of the mini-posters:

  This week, our Year 3 class explored a chapter from The Iron Man  by Ted Hughes through role-play. After reading the chapter together, the children discussed the key events, characters, and emotions before bringing the scene to life. The children worked in groups to act out the chapter, using voice, movement, and facial expressions to show how the characters were feeling. Everyone had a role, which helped build confidence and teamwork. The activity supported children’s understanding of the story and developed speaking and listening skills in a fun, memorable way. Role-play proved to be an engaging way for Year 3 to deepen their connection with the text. I can't wait to see how it ends! Bow

 This week as part of our topic- Our Wonderful World, the children are learning all about space. We have transformed our role play area into a space station and Mrs Wiseman has very kindly made us a rocket! The children are loving exploring the new area and communicating with each other as astronauts.  'We're coming into land'- Immanuel  'Look it's the moon'- Ivy  In the afternoon, we acted out our mission to space and started learning about the different planets. We had to put on our moon boots, oxygen pack, backpack and helmet and then travelled through space. When we landed on Mars, we had to use our telescope to look for Martians; when on Jupiter, we discovered it is a stormy planet and so had to whirl around pretending to be in a storm.   

  Monday 26 th January 2026 We have been learning about different habitats and how animals adapt to survive! From camouflage to sharp claws, blubber to long. curly tails.... animals have adpated in some amazing ways in order to survive the dangers of their habitats. Today we got creative and made habitats using a variety of materials. The paper plate was our base, and then we cut out our chosen animals. We chose materials and decorated the background to match the habitat, for example, a sloth would live in a rainforest. We also watched BBCbitesize videos to help us understand how and why animals adapt. Soon we will be designing and making bug hotels as part of our next DT project!

Next week the Book fair will arrive in school. It will be in the school hall on the following dates and times:  Thursday 5th February - 3.20pm Friday 6th February - 3.20pm Monday 9th February  - During Parents' evening Tuesday 10th February - During Parents' evening Your child will be able to use their 'World book day token' in advance at the book fair - all children will receive £1 off any purchases.  Please note that the book fair is now cashless! You pay via QR code online. 

 Yesterday during R.E, we explored the question: How do we know Jesus takes care of everyone? We discussed the Miracle of Jesus and how he fed 5000 people by turning 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread into a feast for everyone.  We each took a piece of bread and thanked Jesus for taking care of us. We thought about what it feels like when we are hungry and how we feel when we get to share mealtimes together, like snack and lunch time.  Then today, it was time for us to make our own bread for all to enjoy.  We began by identifying the ingredients needed to make the bread and the steps of the recipe.  The children had a chance to help add the ingredients, stir, mix and knead before Mrs Hughes in the kitchen baked the rolls for us.  “The yeast looks sour” Jesse Joy  “ It smells like pancakes” Nina “ It’s like playdoh “ Da’Jean  “ It’s so squishy” Gideon “You need to put it in the oven to bake it, the oven is a cooking thing” Brian  “It’s warm” Quinn “...

We're about to we have been learning how to use counters and drawings to help us understand multiplication better. We used counters to make equal groups. For example, to work out 4 × 32 , we made 4 groups with 32 counters in each group . This helped us see that multiplication is the same as repeated addition (32 + 32 + 32 + 32).  When we solved worded problems , drawing pictures really helped. We drew what was happening in the problem, such as groups of objects or rows of items. Drawing it out helped us decide which multiplication we needed and stopped us from getting confused. Using counters and pictures helped everyone feel more confident. It showed us that multiplication is not just numbers—it is something we can see and explain . We are getting better at choosing helpful strategies to solve tricky problems.

  🌍 Year 1 Explore the World Through Maps! Year 1 have been busy becoming young geographers this week, diving into the fascinating world of maps and developing their understanding of the wider world as well as their own surroundings. The children began by exploring a world map, using it to identify where we live and to locate the seven continents , the five oceans , and the equator . They were excited to spot familiar places and amazed by how big our planet really is. This sparked lots of thoughtful discussion about different countries, climates, and how far away other continents are from the UK. From there, the children moved on to learning about map plans . They discovered how maps are drawn from a bird’s‑eye view , and they practised looking at objects and spaces from above. This new perspective helped them understand why maps look the way they do and how symbols are used to represent real‑life features. To put their learning into action, Year 1 headed outside to explore the sc...

  Our specialist Behavior Support Team works with parents/carers to support them with understanding their children’s behavior and improving family relationships. How this can benefit families? - Builds confidence and understanding in parenting - Supports emotional wellbeing - Strengthens home-school partnerships - Easy to access – online sessions over 5 weeks Home-Start Essex offers a 5-week online behaviour support course designed for parents and carers to develop practical strategies to support emotional and sensory needs. There is a different topic each week, based upon issues most commonly raised by families. Topics covered include:- Week 1: Behaviour as communication, connection, and parenting styles Week 2: Emotional regulation and calming strategies Week 3: Sensory processing and behaviour responses Week 4: Daily routines, sleep, SEN support, EHCPs, and more Week 5: Parent wellbeing, self-care, and overcoming judgement   

  Our free Holiday Club is run once a week during most school holidays. It creates a safe space for children to: participate in meaningful activities make friends and socialise access lunch and snacks and all of this is while developing social and communication skills and exploring new talents or interests. Who is Holiday Club for? Holiday Club sessions are booked and offered to families according to criteria. Priority will be given to those from lower income families, in receipt of pupil premium or eligible for free school meals. Activities are free and suitable for children aged 6 and over in primary school. For more information you can  read our Holiday Club Terms and Conditions. Where are the Holiday Club activities? Activities are held at our Kids Inspire HQ, Hargrave House, Hollycroft, Great Baddow, Chelmsford, CM2 7FW Time:  10:30am-3:30pm Upcoming dates for 2026 Holiday Clubs: Tuesday 17 February 2026 - Animal Discovery with  Eden Oasis This February half ter...

Year 5 gathered for our very special Class Mass . It was a wonderful opportunity for us to pause, reflect, and celebrate our faith together as a community. We were delighted to welcome Father Paul , who joined us in the classroom to lead the service. His presence always brings a sense of calm and joy to our school, and it was a privilege to have him guide us through our worship. Year 5 showed spiritual maturity during the times of reflection and participated fully in the worship.  Thank you to those parents who were able to join us for the service. We are already looking forward to our next Mass. 

Today, we were looking at dividing by powers of 10. We thought about the relationship between multiplying and dividing by 10 and 100. We took our whiteboards outside drew place value charts on the floor. We created numbers and multiplied and divided them by 10 and 100. We looked at how we weren't just adding and taking away 0s, but moving the numbers up and down the place value chart.  

 Year 3 launched their new geography topic, Island Life , with an exciting entry point lesson that sparked lots of curiosity and imagination. The children were told they had been shipwrecked and stranded on a desert island, where they had to think carefully about how they would survive. As part of the experience, the children tasted a variety of fruits that might be found on an island. This helped them think about natural resources and how people use what the environment provides to meet their needs. The children discussed what they would need to survive, including food, water and shelter, and how island life might be different from life at home. These ideas introduced key geographical concepts and set the scene for our learning this term. This engaging lesson was a great way to start our geography unit and Year 3 are already excited to learn more about island environments and how people live on them..

During our new IPC topic, See Hear! , we have been exploring the fascinating world of light and sound. We learned about light and darkness, as well as how light can be reflected and refracted. As part of this topic, we also discovered how the human eye works and how it helps us to see the world around us. After learning the science behind light, we put our knowledge to the test by designing and creating our own periscopes. By using reflection, we were able to see around corners and over objects, bringing our learning to life in a fun and practical way. This hands-on activity helped us understand how light travels and showed us how science is used in everyday objects. For the second part of our topic, we used Chromebooks to create and present our own presentations about sound. We learned how sound is produced, how it travels, and how it is received by our ears. This helped us develop our research, digital, and presentation skills while deepening our understanding of how we hear the wor...

  Year 1 Gymnastics – Balances, Jumps and Brilliant Teamwork This week in gymnastics, Year 1 have been busy developing their balance, control and confidence as we explored a range of different balances and jumps. The children were fantastic at trying new shapes with their bodies, practising 2‑point, 3‑point and 4‑point balances , as well as some trickier positions such as dish , Y‑shape and straight balances . It was wonderful to see them concentrating so carefully and holding each position with growing stability. We also focused on a variety of jumps, including straight jumps , tuck jumps , half‑turn jumps and star jumps . The children enjoyed putting power and height into their movements while remembering to land safely with bent knees and good control. A highlight of the lesson was using the apparatus. The class travelled confidently along the benches before jumping safely from the boxes , showing great courage and coordination. Alongside this, the children have been learning ...

 This half term, we have introduced new writing lessons, called Drawing Club. Children focus on a story, traditional tale or cartoon each week. We discuss new vocabulary similar to that in the text and then draw our own creations. Alongside this, children have to write the magic code of their choosing to bring their pencil to life and perform all sorts of magic. On day 1, we draw a main character, day 2 is setting and days 3 and 4 are when our creativity truly starts- Adventure Time. These lessons allow children to take the story in any direction they choose.  The children are really pushing themselves with their writing without even knowing it. They truly want to write so their picture becomes whatever they imagine.  This week, we are focusing on The Gingerbread Man. On Monday we drew the Gingerbread Man, Tuesday we drew the river he had to cross and today we decided to bring in a new character.  'I'm going to draw a stinky carrot'- Macie  'Mine is the happy le...

Today, our budding scientists stepped out of the classroom and into the cosmos to tackle two big questions: How big is the space between us and the Sun? and How do the Earth and Moon actually move? Our first challenge was to understand the staggering distance between the Earth and the Sun. To do this, we took our learning outside to the playground. To make an accurate scale model, we used: A Football: Representing the massive Sun. A 2mm Blue Tac Ball: Representing our tiny Earth. Trundle Wheels: To measure the distance. The children were amazed to find that if the Sun were the size of a football, they had to use their trundle wheels to walk 23 meters away just to place their tiny Blue Tac Earth! Standing that far back and looking at the football really drove home how much "empty space" there is in our solar system. 'It was fun learning about the Earth, sun and moon because we went outside and we compared a football with a 2mm ball of blue tac. The Earth is extremely ...

Continuing our learning about multiplication and making links to repeated addition, Year 2 made arrays to represent different number sentences. Did you know, arrays are all around us! Egg cartons, apps on our phones, chocolate bars...! Nicole: 'An array has to be a square or rectangle shape.' Benjamin: 'The rows have to be equal.' Eva: 'You can count down or across to make different number sentences. 4 x 3 is the same as 3 x 4.' Hannah: 'If you have 9 counters, you make different arrays. 3 x 3 or 1 x 9.' This visual representation is a great way of seeing how multiplication works and making connections with known number facts... well done Year 2!

 Reception class loved coming back to school this week, especially because of the snow! We discussed what makes snow and ice and the children had some lovely discussions about everything we could find that was frozen.  'The sand is frozen too'- Gideon.  We went on a hunt around our outdoor area to find everything which had frozen- there was lots to find. We tried to have a snowball fight, but it hadn't snowed quite enough.  'I can write my name in the snow'- Valentina.  The children were all very careful in the slippery conditions and we came up with some rules to keep us safe before we headed out.  'If we run we will slip over'- Ethan.  'It's like an ice rink'- Jesse-Joy 'There's a leaf frozen inside'- Quinn

A very warm welcome back to everyone, and may I wish all our families a happy and blessed New Year. It has been a joy to see the children return to school so settled, enthusiastic and ready to learn. This week we marked the feast of the Epiphany with a whole-school Mass, led by Fr Paul. It was wonderful to see so many parents and relatives join us to celebrate together. Your presence means a great deal to the school community and truly enriches these special occasions. The children did a fantastic job with the readings, reading clearly and confidently, and they should be very proud of themselves. During Epiphany, we are reminded of the journey of the Wise Men, who followed the light of the star with faith, patience and trust. Their journey encourages us to look for signs of God in our own lives and to remember that we are all called to share our gifts with others. As we begin this new year, this message feels particularly important: to move forward with hope, kindness and a willingn...

 Today, Year 4 started their new IPC topic: Land, Sky and Sea. We'll be looking at different environments and how animals adapt to those environments. To kick off the new topic, the students drew the different evironments that they new off. What we thought the features of those environments might be and how they might be different to other environments. We're looking forward to discovering more about these different environments and the animals that live within them.

  🌴 Year 1 Entry Point: Treasure Island! 🌊🏴‍☠️ Today, Year 1 launched their brand‑new IPC topic Treasure Island , and what an exciting start it was. The classroom was buzzing with curiosity as the children became explorers, detectives, and even pirates for the morning! To begin, the children were invited to guess our new topic using a series of clues. First, they listened carefully to four mysterious sounds and predicted what they might be. Then, they examined three silhouettes of unknown objects, followed by three zoomed‑in images that challenged them to look closely and think creatively. Once everyone had made their predictions, we gathered together to share ideas. The children’s observations were fantastic: Ollie: “I think it is to do with pirates.” Chenai: “I heard waves and seagulls so I think it is to do with the oceans.” Noah: “I think it’s to do with pirates and ships as there was a wheel from a ship and treasure.” Their thoughtful guesses showed just how well the...

Our Year 5 gymnasts took to the mats for an action-packed lesson focused on precision, control, and creativity.  The lesson began with a focus on fundamental floor work. The children worked hard to refine three distinct types of rolls, each requiring a different level of core strength and spatial awareness: The Pencil Roll: Focusing on a tight, streamlined body shape. The Tuck Roll: Mastering the art of staying "small" and protecting the spine. The Teddy Bear Roll: A tricky lateral roll that challenged their coordination and rhythm! Once the rolling was under control, we moved on to stability. The students practiced their 3-point balances , learning that tension through their fingertips and toes is the secret to staying perfectly still. We also introduced the raised beams. Navigating a moving balance across the beam requires immense focus, and it was wonderful to see the children supporting one another and showing great bravery as they crossed. The class explored three k...

📸Today Year 2 used the iPads to create digital media - photographs - whilst refining their computing skills. We talked about what devices can take photos (CCTV, smart phones, digital cameras...) and which devices can't (printers, USB sticks...).  The class were familiar with taking photos and selfies as this is part of our everyday modern lives! However, we were reminded that you should ask permission before taking someone's photo, and that you can delete photos if you are not happy with them. We also realised that sometimes action shots are blurry! Our challenge was to complete the 'photo bingo' card. Next we will be considering when it is more effective to take a landscape or portrait photograph.