St Pius X Catholic Primary School

  Reception class have had a great start this week in school. We have been exploring all the areas in the classroom and in the garden. The children have shown excellent sharing and have started to make some great friendships. It's lovely to see their confidence growing and we can't wait for the final few children to join us next week!  "I love balancing with Henry"- Jeevan  "The bikes are fun with my friend"- Gideon "I love playing with my new friends"

 This week, Year 3 started their new topic Brainwave , all about how we learn and grow. To begin, the children became teachers themselves, sharing their own skills with one another. We had mini-sessions on everything from origami and drawing to football tricks and math's tips. It was wonderful to see the children explaining clearly, encouraging their friends, and having a go at something new. The class quickly discovered that learning isn’t just about knowledge, but also about curiosity, resilience, and teamwork. A brilliant start to our Brainwave journey! Norah taught me how to do a drawing, it was fun Blessed

📣 NEW Booking System Now Live! 📣 Educational Psychology Parent Helpline We’re excited to launch our new and improved telephone support service for families! 💬✨ ✅ Confidential, safe and supportive ✅ No referral needed – just book your slot 🗓️ Available on alternating Mondays and Tuesdays 🕐 1:00pm to 5:00pm ⏱️ 25-minute appointments https://send.essex.gov.uk/search-support-groups-and-activities/educational-psychology-ep-parent-helpline 📞 Please note: the previous helpline number is no longer in use.

Today, Year 6 put their personalised Zones of Regulation toolkits into action in a fun and engaging way. The class worked as a team to explore how we can recognise our feelings and choose the right strategies to manage them. Using drama, the children re-enacted real-life scenarios and demonstrated how their toolkit could help them move from the red zone (feeling angry, upset, or out of control) back into the green zone (feeling calm, focused, and ready to learn). The Zones of Regulation is a framework designed to help children understand and manage their emotions. There are four colour zones: Blue Zone : when we feel sad, tired, or lacking energy. Green Zone : when we feel calm, focused, and ready to learn. Yellow Zone : when we feel a bit silly, excited, or nervous – our emotions are heightened but still manageable. Red Zone : when we feel very angry, upset, or overwhelmed and may need support to calm down. Each child has developed their own toolkit filled with strategies that wo...

 We’ve had a brilliant start to the year in Year 4! It’s been wonderful to welcome everyone back. To start the year, we've been learning all about exploring how we learn best. We talked about the different ways people learn and what helps us in our enviroments. It’s been exciting to see everyone start to take ownership of their learning already! We looked at how making connections is an important part of learning and so we played the wool game to illustrated how the brian makes connections.  We also began learning about the Zones of Regulation . These zones help us to understand our feelings and give us strategies to manage them. We explored the four zones: Blue (sad, tired, sick) Green (happy, calm, ready to learn) Yellow (worried, silly, frustrated) Red (angry, out of control) We talked about how it's normal to feel all of these emotions sometimes, and that recognising them is the first step to managing them in a healthy way. To help us remember the Zon...

It was truly heartwarming to come together as a school community this week to celebrate the Feast Day of St Pius X, our school’s patron saint. After the summer break, there was something especially meaningful about beginning our new academic year with a shared celebration of faith and togetherness. The Mass was a beautiful occasion, filled with reverence, joy, and the spirit of unity. A heartfelt thank you goes to Father Paul for leading us in such a thoughtful and inspiring service. His words helped us reflect not only on the life and legacy of St Pius X, but also on how we can carry his example of kindness, humility, and faith into our daily lives. We would also like to express our sincere thanks to our altar servers and singers, who carried out their roles with such maturity and grace. Their service helped to make the Mass even more special, and we are very proud of them. As we look forward to the term ahead, we do so grounded in faith and grateful to be reunited as a school family...

To start our maths learning this term we are focusing on Place Value. The children all worked hard in pairs to create large numbers using the physical resources we had. They made numbers using deins and place value counters.  They then tested their partner's knowledge of place value by asking questions such as 'How many thousands are in your number? or Can you make a number 100 more than this one?'  The children showed excellent reciprocity skills when working together and supporting each other in this practical maths lesson.  'This lesson was fun because we could use the counters. I had 12 100 counters and I needed to replace 10 of them with a 1000 counter.' - Tyler  'We learned how to make big numbers using the resources.' - Yana 

  As we come to the end of another school year, I find myself reflecting on what has been a jam-packed, eventful, and above all, joyful year. It has been a year filled with learning, growth, laughter, and moments of real achievement for every member of our school community—children and adults alike. This year, we were delighted to welcome the outcomes of both our Ofsted inspection and our Catholic school inspection, each of which brought positive feedback. We were proud to receive a ‘Good’ rating , with inspectors noting that we are just a stone’s throw from outstanding. These inspections reaffirm the hard work and dedication of our staff, pupils, and parents, and motivate us to continue striving for excellence in all that we do. We say a fond farewell, for now, to our incredible Year 6 pupils. It has been a privilege to watch them grow—not just academically, but physically, emotionally, and spiritually—into confident young people ready to take on the next exciting chapter of their...

  Free Summer Activities for Children with SEND! 🌞 Essex County Council has organised a range of free summer activities for children with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities). 💙 To find and book these activities, follow this link: https://shorturl.at/VOdRi Alternatively, log in to the Active Essex Activity Finder, use the filter button, and under Programme, select ‘ECC Summer SEND Sessions’. From there, you can type in your area to see the listings and booking links. 🔍 Examples of Activities: 🎧 Silent Disco in Chelmsford 🧸 Soft Play at Go Bananas in Colchester and Wild’n’Wacky in Harlow 🦋 Butterflies Barleylands Farm Activity Sessions in Billericay 🎨 Messy Play Fun in Brentwood 🥊 Boxing Sessions in Harlow ⚽ Inclusive U's Football Camp in Colchester

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 

Buckets, water guns and squirty bottles were the weapons of choice as students (and a few brave teachers!) battled it out on the field for the Year 6 Water Fight! There were squeals of excitement, surprise soakings, and lots of smiles all around. It was the perfect way to have fun and celebrate the hard work of Year 6!

  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

  Year 6 have took on an exciting Design and Technology challenge to create water theme parks using recycled materials. After researching real-life water parks, the children designed, built, and tested their own models using items like plastic bottles, cardboard, and tubing. The project encouraged teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving while promoting sustainability. The final designs were imaginative, functional, and a great showcase of the students' hard work and innovation. Well done Year 6!

  Our Year 6 pupils, with wonderful support from Year 5, gave a truly magical performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs this week. The children lit up the stage with their energy, humour, and confidence, bringing the fairy tale to life with fantastic acting, singing, and plenty of charm. It was a joy to see all their hard work come together in such a fun and memorable final production. A huge thank you to all the children involved, the staff who worked tirelessly behind the scenes, and our amazing parents and careers for your support with costumes, rehearsals, and being such a brilliant audience.  It was a real team effort, and we couldn't be prouder!