Year 5 enjoyed the sunshine this afternoon. They are learning to play netball for our inter-house competition at the end of half term. For homework they even found out about all the rules and positions, which helped them today. Competitive sport is a big part of life at St. Mary’s and we strive to develop skills in a number of team games throughout the year.

Y3 Caterpillars

The first week back has flown by and the holidays are fast becoming a dim and distant memory. Mrs Gates and I would like to extend a warm welcome to everyone, especially Kate and Finn who have joined St Mary’s this term: it is a pleasure to have  you both in the class.

Until all the consent forms are back, we are unable to attach any photos of the children, but we thought you might like to see our class caterpillars! Hopefully in the next few weeks we will see them metamorphose into beautiful butterflies.

An urgent request:  Last year’s RE book was accidentally sent home at the end of term. We would be grateful if you could please return it to school if you still have it. These books are supposed to go up through school with the children.

Music: This term we will be learning recorders – if your child has their own recorder, please could they bring them into school where they can keep them safe in their trays. We do have some school recorders, however some children like to use their own rather than the class ones.

Just a reminder that both Mrs Gates and I will be in school this Wednesday for the information session at 3:30 pm and look forward to meeting with you if you can attend.

Mrs Thomas and Mrs Gates

Over the Summer holidays, we’ve continued to make developments to the Early Years outdoor space.  We now have new small world resources, a cascading water feature with taps and a writing den easily adapted to follow the children’s interests.  These areas are to add to our mud kitchen, Maths area, gardening area, sand and gravel pit, role play area and performance area.

We have access to the outdoor area every day.  We find it encourages increased self esteem by developing their divergent thinking skills and collaborative skills.  They are able to play and explore, learn actively, develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.  There is a sense of freedom that sparks awe and wonder.

Reception and Nursery had a fantastic day at Leighton Moss. In the morning, we found lots of minibeasts in the hideaway using our magnifiers and tiny paint brushes and later went pond dipping to find pond creatures. We asked some fantastic questions and made lots of observations. In the afternoon, we climbed the sky walk to look out across Leighton Moss; we used herbs to make scent cocktails and finally we went on a bird trail to find birds and their homes.

Advanced notice – Year 4 and 5 will be attending the Westmorland Show on Sept 14th with Mrs Smith and Mrs Day. This annual event is a superb opportunity to explore our Cumbria traditions.

We have welcomed our children to their new classes today and have got off to a superb start.  Welcome everyone!

Welcome back to school. If you are just starting school for the first time – you are most welcome.  We hope you have a wonderful start to your time with us.

Congratulations to all of the children who received their 100% attendance medals this year. It is a great achievement to get to 100%. In fact Josh has managed to achieve 100% two years in a row. WOW!  Congratulations and we hope there will be even more next year.

We are exceptionally proud of our Year 6 children who are moving on to secondary education very soon. Our children have moved to Queen Elizabeth School and Lancaster Grammar this year.   We wish them best wishes and happiness for the future.

Very well done to all of our children who represented school at the Dick Viney Inter School Athletics Tournament. The children achieved 4th and 9th and won many personal medals ranging from gold to bronze. Very well done.