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4th January - 8th March 2021: SCHOOL OPEN ONLY TO CHILDREN OF KEY WORKERS AND THOSE WHO ARE VULNERABLE

Click on the sun to access resources to help you and your family stay healthy and happy in these difficult times.

Click on the picture to access Mrs Barwell's Shakespeare club

Click on logo to follow your class' progress on reading

Click on the picture for more ideas to keep on reading

Friday 26th February - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents

8th March 2021
We are continuing to work on the plans for the safe return of all children on 8th March. We are looking forward to having everyone back. Our plans have been informed by a letter we received from Noah, one of our children in Year 3, the views of parents who have contacted us and the knowledge and expertise of the staff. On Monday 8th, we are therefore going to run activities in every class to enable children to talk and re-establish friendships. These will include collective worship; team building outdoors; art linked to the PTA exhibition "what we have missed during lockdown"; time in the garden; social and emotional activities around dream and hopes, and shared reading.

World Book Day 4th March
Before we return, we have World Book Day on 4th March. After faith, reading is the most important thing we pass on to our children because it opens up a world of independent learning, enjoyment and life opportunities. As parents and teachers, we have a responsibility to role model for our children a love of reading and knowledge.

Looking at my own life and talking to friends, I know how difficult it is to move away from our phones and screens but our desire for our children to be happy will only be fulfilled if we tell them stories, read them books, share our skills/interests and find time to play with them. Personally, I find that impossible to do with a phone or screen in my hand. For these reasons, World Book Day becomes more important each year. Whilst the focus is usually dressing up as a character, the important part is to read to children and talk to them about books. Therefore, we are inviting everyone to dress up and (if you wish post a photo of your child on the BGfL) but more importantly to read to your children and for them to read to you.
I am always encouraged by the amount some children do read and the conversations I have with Year 6 children about authors. Those who read a lot know so much and talk enthusiastically and knowledgably about authors well beyond Roald Dahl and David Walliams. I have also been delighted by the number of children who are reading books form the online EPIC scheme.
Today, we heard that a character created by Arthur, one of our Reception children, has been used in a poem by the professional writer Martin Riley. A recording of the author reading the poem will be published on our website. Well done, Arthur and all our children who write.

No screen day 5th March
We are concerned about the amount of time we are spending on screens and therefore, on Friday 5th March, all our learning activities are going to take place without computers, laptops or tablets. Teachers will have posted before the 5th March suggested activities for that day.

Stars of the Week
Reception - Junnat and Aisha for phonics.
Year 1 - Ismail and Mustafa for phonics; Naira and Inaaya for comprehension.
Year 2 - Uthman - for super reading and research on owls; Raihan - for showing such dedication, by working so hard every day and uploading some amazing, finished work; Umar - for creating wonderful, descriptive writing on senses, in English; Layth - for superb knowledge when using a compass and of weather instruments, in Geography.
Year 3 - Ahmed for his work on personal pronouns in English; Adam for the accuracy of his measuring in Maths; Maryam for her independence; Eli for his persuasive writing.
Year 4 - Haris- scientific work on liquids and solids; Usayd and Ksenija for their work on Unheard of Beasts; Amnah for her contribution to live lessons.
Year 5 - Mem for his work with algorithms in Computing; Owais for the range of vocabulary he uses in his writing; Taimoor for his descriptive writing; Emily for her story writing.
Year 6 - Shalom for his art work; Lemuela for her scientific work; Maira for her poetry

Virtues
This half term we are focussing on being attentive to God and others and being discerning in our choices.

Tabitha and Isabel - being attentive to the needs of the poor in Lent.
Kayden and Omair being attentive to the younger children during football matches.

Best wishes

Justin Gray
Headteacher

Due to the current crisis, we are sorry not to be able to open our doors to parents like we used to, this November. However, we would be delighted to welcome new families and we would encourage any parent to "visit" our school by exploring this website and watching this video.

In this other video, our headteacher, Mr J Gray is giving you more key information on our school.

And this 3rd video will show you the amazing new garden we created last Spring for our pupils:

"Through Jesus, we achieve our very best"

St Martin de Porres is a voluntary aided Roman Catholic school where the teachings of Christ form the core of our work. We aim to provide high quality teaching and learning for all our members so that they are able to recognise and fulfil the gifts and potential given to them by God.

We pride ourselves on being a school which is warm, friendly and supportive. An environment where all can flourish and achieve success.

The school was built at the end of the 1960's and takes 30 children into the reception class each September. Application forms for school places and our admission criteria are available from the Parents Tab, Key Information page on this website.

St Martin's Prayer

Dear St Martin,

Your whole life was committed
to looking after the sick and needy
as well as the animals upon the earth.
You showed us a wonderful example
of the teachings of Jesus.
Bless all of us in this school family
and help us all to continue to follow your example.
St Martin, pray for us.

Cashless School

A Child’s view

I like St. Martin de Porres, it’s the best of all,
A helping hand with any incident or fall,
Including everyone, leaving no one behind,
Oh! And don’t forget the teachers are really kind,
There are lots of subjects and activities to do,
And the uniform is really smart too,
The dinners are tasty made by the kind cook,
If you come to this school you’ve got really good luck!

Children at St. Martin's achieve high academic standards. OfSTED described the standard of behaviour and relationships at the school as outstanding.

Latest News

Click on the picture on the left to access all important information and messages about how our school is dealing with the crisis.

Click on Pobble's logo for ideas on non-screen activities

Ms Steele recommends: Click on the Virtual School Library banner to access this National Literacy Trust/Oak Academy website for reading.

Dear Parents,
In these difficult times when Covid19 makes us send whole classes home for a fortnight more often than we ever wished, we are doing our best to provide your children with other means of learning than traditional school attendance. We are posting worksheets and other resources on the Birmingham Grid for Learning (BGfL365) as well as on this website and are organising online video lessons. However, all this is pointless if our families do not have access to the internet.
The survey below will allow us to assess the ability of our school community to access online learning, to scale the issue and to find solutions for families who do not have access to the internet. We would thus be grateful if you could take a minute to complete the survey here.
Thank you very much for your time.

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We are delighted that the PTA are organising an art exhibition during November. We are really looking forward to seeing not only the children's entries but also your own and those from members of your families. Click here for more information.