St Pius X Catholic Primary School

 For fieldwork week this year, Reception class were exploring the speed, distance and direction of bubbles in the wind. They first learnt the different compass directions and used this learning to explore the direction that the bubbles travelled.  We used the compass in the playground to help us see which way they travelled. Some went fast, some went slow. Some bubbles flew straight up into the sky and others floated slowly into the trees. 'It went to the side'- Esther 'The wind has gone now and the bubbles went to the floor'- Elijah 'They went straight up and not that far'- Valentina 'They went fast'- Ivy  'Some went a long way and some didn't'- Clare  Some of the children knew about the directions on a compass and what they are used for.  'I have a toy compass, it tells you the ways'- Nina  'I know west and east'- Jesse-Joy 'I know South America is south'- Ethan 'A compass is a round object and it helps you with ...

 On Tuesday, Reception Class took their first school trip to Maldon, where they could link this to their learning of the seaside. The children had to build their own sandcastles and then complete observational drawings of the boats in the water. They all loved playing in the sand and worked hard to complete their drawings, really focusing on the details they could see on the boats.  We also got to see people working on their boats and watched a sail boat travel across the water. The children spotted speed boats and sail boats.  We got to eat our lunch in the park and play on the all the play equipment, which was so much fun that even the adults had to take a turn! The children all behaved incredibly throughout the day and loved being on the coach, even if it did send a few of them to sleep.  A massive thank you to all the parents who were able to support on the trip, it really does make a big difference!   

🌍 In geography we have started to learn about the United Kingdom! We had interesting discussions about if the UK is a country; it is 4 countries 'united.'  Then we thought about the capital cities and their location in each country before exploring the atlases. This was a lot of fun - working together to identify the 4 countries and capital cities and then annotating them on our own maps. Year 2's understanding of the locations relative to each other has improved, and some even started to look at the seas and oceans surrounding us!  🌍

 On Friday 22nd May 2026, we The Mini Vinnies celebrated World Cultural Diversity Day.  We asked children and parents if they would like to present some interesting facts about their culture and share any traditions,  photos, powerpoints and cultural clothes at our assembly that we held.  We had a lovely time, because everyone got the chance to learn more about so many different cultures.  We could not have done this without the help of some our parents who so kindly gave up their time to come and share their culture with the school in the assembly, Mrs Kenning - Spain, Mrs Prasanna - India, Mrs Stepegeu - Romania and Mrs Tumber who went over and above by arranging for these fabulous parents to come to the school and they put together a powerpoint to present.  Mrs Tumber also brought in clothes for the younger children to try on and musical instruments to play.  We all learnt so much about different cultures, traditions, food and dancing. This was such...

To introduce the continent, the children were transported into the world of international espionage. Working in teams, their first task was to establish their identities. We had some brilliantly creative agent team names such as ‘The mappers’ and ‘The Geography gang’.  The Mission: Unlock the Key Words The agents were handed a series of top-secret clues, but the answers couldn't be found on a screen. Instead, the children had to rely on their trusty tool: the atlas . To "crack the code" and unlock vital keywords linked to the continent, the teams had to successfully navigate and investigate: The Hemispheres: Discovering exactly where South America sits on the globe. The Surrounding Seas: Mapping out the massive oceans that border the continent. The Major Countries: Identifying some of the largest countries hidden within South America’s borders. It was wonderful to watch the children supporting each other, dividing up the clues, and cross-referencing their atlas indexes...

 It's been so much fun exploring the forest school area as part of our learning!  The children are loving all of the activities provided by our forest school leaders: Karen and Caroline.  There has been lots of bug hunting, mud kitchen cooking and tree climbing. The children love being outdoors and the lovely weather we've been having has helped massively.  ‘My favourite part was everything!’ Clare ‘ I liked playing with my friends and climbing trees with Archie and Jeevan’ Da’Jean ‘I liked looking for bugs’ Jesse-Joy 'I've been cooking dinner for all my friends'- Kiana 

 Year 3 finished their Island Life geography topic with an exciting exit point – erupting their own homemade volcanoes! After learning about islands, volcanoes and how they shape the landscape, the children created model volcanoes and watched them erupt using a fizzy mixture. It was a fantastic, hands-on way to celebrate everything they had learnt. Well done, Year 3, for ending the topic with such an explosive activity! This has been such a fun unit of work! Nathan

Year 2 had an exciting start to their new English unit, based around a book called  'Wild Magic - Legend of the Black Lion,'  by Abiola Bello. It is set in Ethiopia. Mrs Griffiths had a mystery bag containing clues about the story.... a safari hat, binoculars and a picture of a black lion! The children made predictions using these clues alongside information they had taken from the book cover and blurb. We then read chapter one together and noted down important things we had learnt about each character so far. As we continue reading, we will practise and refine important reading skills (sequencing, summarising) and use key narrative skills (describing, linking ideas, using a variety of punctuation) to write our own adventure story!

⚘🐛 ' Live and Let Live' is the IPC topic for Year 2 this Spring half term. It's been the perfect opportunity to see things in action, developing their understanding of life cycles, food chains and how animals adapt to different habitats. This week Year 2 have planted poppy and pansy seeds and will make regular observations in order to track the changes from seed to flower in real-time. Last week the children were enthusiastic and excited to design their own bug hotels ! They used their knowledge of materials and thought about what bugs would want - a safe shelter! This week, using as many natural or recycled materials as possible, they used (and adapted) their plans to make their hotel. It has been brilliant to watch their curiosity and creativity whilst putting many skills into action: decision making - choosing appropriate and available materials resilience and problem-solvin g - finding ways to overcome challenges when things don't go to plan. collaboration - he...

 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.   

  🌍 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...

 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..

Year 2 have been exploring the amazing world of maps! We used google earth to look at our local area, then zoomed out to see how Chelmsford fits into the geography of England, then Europe, then the world! It sparked great conversations about places we had visited, or where we had family living. 'My family are from Norway and Ghana,' Leona. 'It's really hot in Iran,' Arsha We used this to plan our route to Broomfield Road where we conducted a traffic survey. This put our maths skills to the test as we tried to use tally marks to collect our data about what types of transport we could see. 'I've seen loads of cars!' Michael. 'We cross the tallies because we are counting in fives,' Mia Next week we will look at our data to see what the most popular modes of transport were, and why!

In Year 5 we have ended our 'Go with the flow' unit by trying to create our own dams. We have been learning about the purpose of dams in rivers and how they help to prevent flooding and manage water flow in a river.  We used natural resources we could find around school to try and stop water flowing down the guttering pipe.  The children's turned into engineers to try to create a structure that blocked the water. They had some brilliant ideas, builing up from the bottom of the pipe.  'It was fun trying different materials to see if the water could get through.' - Raveena  'It was fun seeing all the different dams and how they were all made from natural resources.' - Lisandra  'Even though our dam didn't block the water it was still fun to make them together.' - Ivy 

  Year 3 had a brilliant day out at Lathcoats Farm, where we learned all about farming and where our food comes from. The children explored the orchards and fields, picking their own fruit—strawberries were a clear favourite! Everyone enjoyed tasting the fresh produce, and many said it was the best fruit they’d ever had. We also got to meet some of the farm animals, including some adorable baby goats. The children loved stroking them and asking lots of questions about how the animals are cared for. It was a fun-filled day of learning, exploring, and enjoying nature. A big thank you to Lathcoats Farm for such a wonderful experience! I loved picking the fruit and getting to eat it! - Florence

To end our unit of work on island life, we erupted some volcanoes in year 3! It's a wonderful way to finish a term of Geography focused work where we have learnt about four figure grid referencing, the water cycle, the features of a river, volcanoes, the countries of Europe and much, much more! The children could eloquently describe what a volcano is and what causes it to erupt, using key geographic vocabulary. We then progressed to erupt them and it was so much fun! Even if Mr Cook did go home smelling of vinegar! Volcanoes are so interesting, mine erupted and it looked just like lava!  Aadhavan  

 Year One students took place in a range of activities this week for our I.P.C unit 'Treasure Island'!  First, students learned that pirates in the Caribbean used to steal gold and silver coins from other ships on their way from South America to Spain. Students designed their own pirate coins using air dry clay, beads, buttons and paint. "I'm making a pattern on my pirate coin with the beads!" - Nancy "My pirate coin is from London!" - Eva "My pirate coin was stolen by another pirate!" - Arsha "You have to make sure the clay is thick enough, or your coin will break!" - Abel "Pirates would steal gold and silver coins. I made a gold coin!" - Ava-Grace For Design and Technology, students designed compasses. Students learned that pirates used compasses to navigate the seas on their ships. We learned about cardinal directions and intermediate directions. Then, students made their own compasses using cardboard, paper, and butterfl...