Messages from our Headteacher |
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Sunday 18th July - Message from Mrs Braithwaite and Mrs Laird:
Dear Parents/Carers,
We hope you are all well and have had the chance to enjoy the glorious weather over the last few days. As we head towards the last couple of days of the term we just wanted to remind you that the children will be taking part in sports day tomorrow. Unfortunately, we are unable to invite you into school to come and watch as we normally would however, we will make sure we take lots of photographs and share them with you. Please do send your child in with PE kit, they will most definitely need trainers or pumps. It would be great if you could send them in wearing a t shirt of their house colour. Please could we also ask that they are wearing a sunhat/cap and have a water bottle as the weather is looking to stay for the next day or two. If you want to send sun cream in their bag, that would be great.
Just a little reminder about returning any books and laptops to school tomorrow also please. Our books have become somewhat depleted over the last year or so. Please have a good look for any that might be lying around.
It really does feel good to be able to be in school again, though we do still have a couple of staff poorly. We all know that the number of positive cases is very high at the moment. Could we please ask that you ensure your little ones to do a lateral flow test before coming to school tomorrow.
We very much look forward to seeing you all back at school in the morning.
Best wishes and a sincere thank you for your continuous support,
Mrs Braithwaite and Mrs Laird
Dear Parents/Carers,
We hope you are all well and have had the chance to enjoy the glorious weather over the last few days. As we head towards the last couple of days of the term we just wanted to remind you that the children will be taking part in sports day tomorrow. Unfortunately, we are unable to invite you into school to come and watch as we normally would however, we will make sure we take lots of photographs and share them with you. Please do send your child in with PE kit, they will most definitely need trainers or pumps. It would be great if you could send them in wearing a t shirt of their house colour. Please could we also ask that they are wearing a sunhat/cap and have a water bottle as the weather is looking to stay for the next day or two. If you want to send sun cream in their bag, that would be great.
Just a little reminder about returning any books and laptops to school tomorrow also please. Our books have become somewhat depleted over the last year or so. Please have a good look for any that might be lying around.
It really does feel good to be able to be in school again, though we do still have a couple of staff poorly. We all know that the number of positive cases is very high at the moment. Could we please ask that you ensure your little ones to do a lateral flow test before coming to school tomorrow.
We very much look forward to seeing you all back at school in the morning.
Best wishes and a sincere thank you for your continuous support,
Mrs Braithwaite and Mrs Laird
Monday 19th April - Message from Mrs Laird and Mrs Braithwaite:
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope that you are all well and have had a wonderful Easter Holiday. We now enter the Summer Term and are delighted to see the children back with big smiles and enthusiasm. As the days are getting warmer, please ensure you send your child to school with a water bottle.
We will be returning to our newsletter from Friday 23rd April. You will receive the newsletter via email, so please read it when you receive it so that you can keep up to date with the latest news and any upcoming events.
For your information, on week commencing 3rd May, school will be closed on two days:
COVID
We really appreciate all that you are doing to keep us safe. Please do keep us informed about any changes to your household's health and if your child has any symptom of COVID, get her or him tested. Some of the rules on what you can and cannot do changed on 12 April. However, many restrictions remain in place. You must not socialise indoors with anyone you do not live with, unless you have formed a support bubble with them or another exemption applies. Wash hands frequently, wear a mask, and please tell us if anyone in your household is going abroad.
Thank you once again for your continued support. Please do not hesitate to come and speak to either of us if you have any concerns.
Mrs Braithwaite/Mrs Laird
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope that you are all well and have had a wonderful Easter Holiday. We now enter the Summer Term and are delighted to see the children back with big smiles and enthusiasm. As the days are getting warmer, please ensure you send your child to school with a water bottle.
We will be returning to our newsletter from Friday 23rd April. You will receive the newsletter via email, so please read it when you receive it so that you can keep up to date with the latest news and any upcoming events.
For your information, on week commencing 3rd May, school will be closed on two days:
- May Day Bank holiday: Monday 3rd May.
- Election Day: Thursday 6th May.
COVID
We really appreciate all that you are doing to keep us safe. Please do keep us informed about any changes to your household's health and if your child has any symptom of COVID, get her or him tested. Some of the rules on what you can and cannot do changed on 12 April. However, many restrictions remain in place. You must not socialise indoors with anyone you do not live with, unless you have formed a support bubble with them or another exemption applies. Wash hands frequently, wear a mask, and please tell us if anyone in your household is going abroad.
Thank you once again for your continued support. Please do not hesitate to come and speak to either of us if you have any concerns.
Mrs Braithwaite/Mrs Laird
Thursday 1st April - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
I am overwhelmed by your generous gifts, cards and words. I cannot do justice to your kindness in an email. You, your children and the staff here have made my time at St Martin's a wonderful experience. It has been a privilege to be headteacher here and I am desperately sad to be going. Please remember me in your prayers.
I wish you all a happy Easter and a restful break.
To our Muslim families, I wish you a holy and fulfilling Ramadhan.
After Easter, Mrs Braithwaite and Mrs Laird will be headteachers. I cannot imagine two better people to lead a school and I know that your children will be in the best of hands. Mrs Laird's work in year 3 on Mondays to Wednesdays will be covered by Mrs Yates who teaches Y2 on Thursdays and Fridays. Mrs Yates is an excellent, experienced teacher and I am delighted that she has agreed to cover Mrs Laird's teaching.
The hard work of your children has continued throughout the week and there has been fantastic learning going on in every class.
Our Stars of the Week are:
Reception: Mahira for super listening in Guided Reading; Amaan for wonderful all round progress in maths and English.
Year 1: Ismail for an excellent recount of our innovated story; Abu-Bakr for hard work on his phonics.
Year 2: Fatima for her maths work on fractions; Hashim for his retelling of the story of the Gruffalo Child.
Year 3: Zoya for her excellent participation and enthusiasm for answering questions during our online Guided Reading; Rizwaan for his excellent participation and answering questions during our online Guided Reading; Livia for an excellent one point perspective drawing in our art lesson; Noah for an excellent one point perspective drawing in our art lesson .
Year 4: Tezzy for a detailed and interesting spy-gadget advert; Maryam for an excellent diary from the perspective of Tommy the Tomato Seed being swallowed and digested.
Year 5: Taigan for super effort in her fraction work; Dean for amazing choice of vocabulary in his writing.
Year 6: Aleena for her excellent ratio work this week; Kazim for a wonderful surrealist piece of Art; Izhan for his work on classification of animals in Science.
Linguist of the week: Freya in Y4 for her work in French lessons.
Musicians of the week: Isabel and Aamna in Year 6 for their performances on the flute in the Birmingham Schools' Spring Concerts.
Leaves - for being attentive and discerning:
Haadiyah-Noor, Rec, for reflecting on our class discussions about Holy Week.
Saron, Year 6, for attentively cleaning the classroom and never complaining it’s other people’s mess.
To all of Year 3 for being attentive during our RE lessons on Lent and discerning in how they all supported our Lenten fundraiser.
Kazim, Year 1, for being attentive to his friends on the playground
Lemuela and Havana, Year 6, for being attentive to one of their friends in the playground
To every child in the school for being so kind and attentive to Mr Gray.
Thank you again
May God bless you and your families.
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents
I am overwhelmed by your generous gifts, cards and words. I cannot do justice to your kindness in an email. You, your children and the staff here have made my time at St Martin's a wonderful experience. It has been a privilege to be headteacher here and I am desperately sad to be going. Please remember me in your prayers.
I wish you all a happy Easter and a restful break.
To our Muslim families, I wish you a holy and fulfilling Ramadhan.
After Easter, Mrs Braithwaite and Mrs Laird will be headteachers. I cannot imagine two better people to lead a school and I know that your children will be in the best of hands. Mrs Laird's work in year 3 on Mondays to Wednesdays will be covered by Mrs Yates who teaches Y2 on Thursdays and Fridays. Mrs Yates is an excellent, experienced teacher and I am delighted that she has agreed to cover Mrs Laird's teaching.
The hard work of your children has continued throughout the week and there has been fantastic learning going on in every class.
Our Stars of the Week are:
Reception: Mahira for super listening in Guided Reading; Amaan for wonderful all round progress in maths and English.
Year 1: Ismail for an excellent recount of our innovated story; Abu-Bakr for hard work on his phonics.
Year 2: Fatima for her maths work on fractions; Hashim for his retelling of the story of the Gruffalo Child.
Year 3: Zoya for her excellent participation and enthusiasm for answering questions during our online Guided Reading; Rizwaan for his excellent participation and answering questions during our online Guided Reading; Livia for an excellent one point perspective drawing in our art lesson; Noah for an excellent one point perspective drawing in our art lesson .
Year 4: Tezzy for a detailed and interesting spy-gadget advert; Maryam for an excellent diary from the perspective of Tommy the Tomato Seed being swallowed and digested.
Year 5: Taigan for super effort in her fraction work; Dean for amazing choice of vocabulary in his writing.
Year 6: Aleena for her excellent ratio work this week; Kazim for a wonderful surrealist piece of Art; Izhan for his work on classification of animals in Science.
Linguist of the week: Freya in Y4 for her work in French lessons.
Musicians of the week: Isabel and Aamna in Year 6 for their performances on the flute in the Birmingham Schools' Spring Concerts.
Leaves - for being attentive and discerning:
Haadiyah-Noor, Rec, for reflecting on our class discussions about Holy Week.
Saron, Year 6, for attentively cleaning the classroom and never complaining it’s other people’s mess.
To all of Year 3 for being attentive during our RE lessons on Lent and discerning in how they all supported our Lenten fundraiser.
Kazim, Year 1, for being attentive to his friends on the playground
Lemuela and Havana, Year 6, for being attentive to one of their friends in the playground
To every child in the school for being so kind and attentive to Mr Gray.
Thank you again
May God bless you and your families.
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Wednesday 24th March - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
I hope that you are all well. Please do keep us informed about any changes to your household's health and if your child has any symptom of COVID, get her or him tested. We are working very hard in school to avoid any families having to self-isolate over the Easter break and we appreciate all that families are doing to keep our children safe from transmission of the virus.
Yesterday, along with the rest of the country, the children held a short period of prayer and silence for all those who have died of COVID and we continue to pray for all in our community who are ill or bereaved.
School finishes a week tomorrow (Thursday 1st April). Next week our focus will be on the events of Holy Week when Jesus was tried and put to death. After the holiday, we will celebrate the Resurrection.
Tonight, the Full Governing Body meets. The governors work hard and give up their time voluntarily to oversee the educational provision the children enjoy. They receive reports on all aspects of our work and hold the senior leaders to account for decisions that are made. You are represented on the Governing Body by Mrs Hebrard and Mrs Zafar. Whilst their work goes on unseen, they play a crucial role in promoting and securing excellence in all we do.
I have been inspired by many of the lessons I have seen this week including some excellent story writing in Year 1 and all of Year 6 playing the glockenspiel whilst reading music. Year 2's art work from their fundraiser last week looks fabulous. Meanwhile, Year 3 are enjoying studying landscape painting. Reception have done some brilliant dances based on African music as part of their reading of the book "Handa's Hen" by Eileen Browne. Year 5 are studying the development of Bagdhad during the golden age of Islam and Year 4 have enjoyed learning about volcanoes this week.
It's great to have had a week of settled weather and the classes have made the most of it with lots of planting in the gardens and good attendance in the after school sports clubs. After Easter, we will be looking to have some of our other extra-curricular clubs returning.
Thank you to everyone who is walking to school or parking further away to keep our children safe before and after school.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents
I hope that you are all well. Please do keep us informed about any changes to your household's health and if your child has any symptom of COVID, get her or him tested. We are working very hard in school to avoid any families having to self-isolate over the Easter break and we appreciate all that families are doing to keep our children safe from transmission of the virus.
Yesterday, along with the rest of the country, the children held a short period of prayer and silence for all those who have died of COVID and we continue to pray for all in our community who are ill or bereaved.
School finishes a week tomorrow (Thursday 1st April). Next week our focus will be on the events of Holy Week when Jesus was tried and put to death. After the holiday, we will celebrate the Resurrection.
Tonight, the Full Governing Body meets. The governors work hard and give up their time voluntarily to oversee the educational provision the children enjoy. They receive reports on all aspects of our work and hold the senior leaders to account for decisions that are made. You are represented on the Governing Body by Mrs Hebrard and Mrs Zafar. Whilst their work goes on unseen, they play a crucial role in promoting and securing excellence in all we do.
I have been inspired by many of the lessons I have seen this week including some excellent story writing in Year 1 and all of Year 6 playing the glockenspiel whilst reading music. Year 2's art work from their fundraiser last week looks fabulous. Meanwhile, Year 3 are enjoying studying landscape painting. Reception have done some brilliant dances based on African music as part of their reading of the book "Handa's Hen" by Eileen Browne. Year 5 are studying the development of Bagdhad during the golden age of Islam and Year 4 have enjoyed learning about volcanoes this week.
It's great to have had a week of settled weather and the classes have made the most of it with lots of planting in the gardens and good attendance in the after school sports clubs. After Easter, we will be looking to have some of our other extra-curricular clubs returning.
Thank you to everyone who is walking to school or parking further away to keep our children safe before and after school.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 19th March - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
Today is the feast of St Joseph. We wish all the Josephs and Yusufs in our community a happy feast day and we ask St Joseph to take our own prayers to God.
I am delighted that Mrs Braithwaite and Mrs Laird have been appointed as joint headteachers for the Summer term. They are brilliant leaders and, through their many strengths, complement each other. The school will be in excellent hands as it moves forward after Easter. In the long run, the school will seek to appoint one headteacher because of the breadth of leadership needed in any school but, for the Summer Term, the school will be led by Mrs Braithwaite and Mrs Laird.
Thank you for your incredible generosity in supporting our class charities. We will let you know how much was raised when all the donations have come in next week.
The children have worked hard in school throughout the week. Their work is being assessed in preparation for parents' evening for which you will have received an email from Mme Symons.
Stars of the week
Rec: Emily for her phonics and blending sounds; Luke for answering questions about our class story;
Year 1: Insha for excellent use of conjunctions in her writing; Safa – fantastic work on addition;
Year 2: Uthman for superb progress in reading; Aleesha - progress in both reading and writing;
Year 3: Esa for excellent contributions during DT; Neyla for her fantastic scores in TTRS every week; Ameerah for her understanding of symmetry; Ismail H for working hard in maths;
Year 4: Sophia - super comprehension. Careful thinking and clear answers; Adrina - super work on adding and subtracting fractions;
Year 5: Finlay for great teamwork in PE; Wol for a good choice of sentence types in his writing.
Year 6: Aleena N for the impressive improvement in her handwriting; Mary for her wonderful onomatopoeia in her writing this week; Khalid for his excellent work on volume in Maths.
Linguist of the week: Taigan for her work in French lessons
Leaves
This half -term we are thinking about being attentive to others and discerning the right thing to do. The following children have been awarded a leaf this week:
Alisha, Year 5, for being attentive to the needs of her friends;
Zak, Year 2, for helping another child come into school;
Lillian, Year 1, for taking great care in her work and being very attentive to the instructions;
Ismael and Arham, Year 6, for being attentive to the feelings of others, when asked to move groups in Mrs Haydon’s after school club.
Neha, Year 3, for taking the time at home to make each girl in the class (including Mrs Laird) a beaded hair clip.
Aizah, Rec, for suggesting that we tidy up properly to help the teachers!
Aatika and Freya, Year 4, for being attentive to each other's needs when working together.
Thank you once again for all you are doing to reduce COVID transmission in the community. Please keep up the handwashing, mask wearing, not mixing with other households and informing us when someone in your family is ill. Everything is important in keeping everyone safe.
The children's safety in the morning has improved thanks to the many parents who park away from school - it is really appreciated. We still have dangerous situations on Oakland Road after school especially where cars are parked on pavements. We have had two incidents this week where parents have parked across driveways on Oakland Road where a number of infirm, elderly people live who often need clear access for medical professionals to visit. Thank you to the vast majority of our parents who do not block the driveways.
This Sunday is Census Day. The Census takes place every ten years and is compulsory so please do fill it in as there is a £1000 fine for not doing so.
God bless and have a good weekend
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents
Today is the feast of St Joseph. We wish all the Josephs and Yusufs in our community a happy feast day and we ask St Joseph to take our own prayers to God.
I am delighted that Mrs Braithwaite and Mrs Laird have been appointed as joint headteachers for the Summer term. They are brilliant leaders and, through their many strengths, complement each other. The school will be in excellent hands as it moves forward after Easter. In the long run, the school will seek to appoint one headteacher because of the breadth of leadership needed in any school but, for the Summer Term, the school will be led by Mrs Braithwaite and Mrs Laird.
Thank you for your incredible generosity in supporting our class charities. We will let you know how much was raised when all the donations have come in next week.
The children have worked hard in school throughout the week. Their work is being assessed in preparation for parents' evening for which you will have received an email from Mme Symons.
Stars of the week
Rec: Emily for her phonics and blending sounds; Luke for answering questions about our class story;
Year 1: Insha for excellent use of conjunctions in her writing; Safa – fantastic work on addition;
Year 2: Uthman for superb progress in reading; Aleesha - progress in both reading and writing;
Year 3: Esa for excellent contributions during DT; Neyla for her fantastic scores in TTRS every week; Ameerah for her understanding of symmetry; Ismail H for working hard in maths;
Year 4: Sophia - super comprehension. Careful thinking and clear answers; Adrina - super work on adding and subtracting fractions;
Year 5: Finlay for great teamwork in PE; Wol for a good choice of sentence types in his writing.
Year 6: Aleena N for the impressive improvement in her handwriting; Mary for her wonderful onomatopoeia in her writing this week; Khalid for his excellent work on volume in Maths.
Linguist of the week: Taigan for her work in French lessons
Leaves
This half -term we are thinking about being attentive to others and discerning the right thing to do. The following children have been awarded a leaf this week:
Alisha, Year 5, for being attentive to the needs of her friends;
Zak, Year 2, for helping another child come into school;
Lillian, Year 1, for taking great care in her work and being very attentive to the instructions;
Ismael and Arham, Year 6, for being attentive to the feelings of others, when asked to move groups in Mrs Haydon’s after school club.
Neha, Year 3, for taking the time at home to make each girl in the class (including Mrs Laird) a beaded hair clip.
Aizah, Rec, for suggesting that we tidy up properly to help the teachers!
Aatika and Freya, Year 4, for being attentive to each other's needs when working together.
Thank you once again for all you are doing to reduce COVID transmission in the community. Please keep up the handwashing, mask wearing, not mixing with other households and informing us when someone in your family is ill. Everything is important in keeping everyone safe.
The children's safety in the morning has improved thanks to the many parents who park away from school - it is really appreciated. We still have dangerous situations on Oakland Road after school especially where cars are parked on pavements. We have had two incidents this week where parents have parked across driveways on Oakland Road where a number of infirm, elderly people live who often need clear access for medical professionals to visit. Thank you to the vast majority of our parents who do not block the driveways.
This Sunday is Census Day. The Census takes place every ten years and is compulsory so please do fill it in as there is a £1000 fine for not doing so.
God bless and have a good weekend
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Tuesday 16th March - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear All
It has been noticeable how many children walked to school this morning and how many parents parked a bit further away and walked the last bit - thank you so much to everyone for making the roads around school a little bit safer. We still have a few cars being parked with two wheels on the pavement near school which is causing a hazard to the children especially the younger ones who cannot be seen over the top of parked cars.
Thank you also for all the work you are putting into keeping COVID at bay. Every hand wash, every mask and every 2 metre gap contributes to the safety of our community. If you have any doubts about your child's health or that of someone in your household, please do not send him/her in.
Tomorrow is St Patrick's Day. St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and his feast day is celebrated throughout the world, including in Birmingham where a significant proportion of our city's population have Irish ancestry. To mark the feast day, we invite children, if they wish, to wear something green on their uniform.
On Friday, we hold our Lenten fundraising appeal for our class charities:
Reception – Easter egg raffle - St Mary’s Hospice https://www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/
Year 1 – guess the teddy's name - Acorns https://www.acorns.org.uk/
Year 2 – creating a work of art - St Basil’s -youth homelessness in Birmingham https://stbasils.org.uk/
Year 3 – lucky dip - The QE Hospital Neurovascular Department https://www.uhb.nhs.uk/neurology.htm
Year 4 – lucky dip - Great Ormond Street Hospital https://www.gosh.org/
Year 5 – lucky dip - CAFOD https://cafod.org.uk/
Year 6 – guess the teddy's name - St Chad’s Sanctuary http://www.stchadssanctuary.com/
We ask that children bring 50p (except for Year 3 doing their donation on sQuid) and we will let you know how much is raised.
Thank you in advance
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear All
It has been noticeable how many children walked to school this morning and how many parents parked a bit further away and walked the last bit - thank you so much to everyone for making the roads around school a little bit safer. We still have a few cars being parked with two wheels on the pavement near school which is causing a hazard to the children especially the younger ones who cannot be seen over the top of parked cars.
Thank you also for all the work you are putting into keeping COVID at bay. Every hand wash, every mask and every 2 metre gap contributes to the safety of our community. If you have any doubts about your child's health or that of someone in your household, please do not send him/her in.
Tomorrow is St Patrick's Day. St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and his feast day is celebrated throughout the world, including in Birmingham where a significant proportion of our city's population have Irish ancestry. To mark the feast day, we invite children, if they wish, to wear something green on their uniform.
On Friday, we hold our Lenten fundraising appeal for our class charities:
Reception – Easter egg raffle - St Mary’s Hospice https://www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/
Year 1 – guess the teddy's name - Acorns https://www.acorns.org.uk/
Year 2 – creating a work of art - St Basil’s -youth homelessness in Birmingham https://stbasils.org.uk/
Year 3 – lucky dip - The QE Hospital Neurovascular Department https://www.uhb.nhs.uk/neurology.htm
Year 4 – lucky dip - Great Ormond Street Hospital https://www.gosh.org/
Year 5 – lucky dip - CAFOD https://cafod.org.uk/
Year 6 – guess the teddy's name - St Chad’s Sanctuary http://www.stchadssanctuary.com/
We ask that children bring 50p (except for Year 3 doing their donation on sQuid) and we will let you know how much is raised.
Thank you in advance
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 12th March - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
As a school community, during Lent, we pray more, give things up and raise money for the poor. Each class has a charity which they support. This year the charities are as follows:
Reception - St Mary’s Hospice https://www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/
Year 1 - Acorns https://www.acorns.org.uk/
Year 2 - St Basil’s -youth homelessness in Birmingham https://stbasils.org.uk/
Year 3 - The QE Hospital Neurovascular Department https://www.uhb.nhs.uk/neurology.htm
Year 4 - Great Ormond Street Hospital https://www.gosh.org/
Year 5 - CAFOD https://cafod.org.uk/
Year 6 - St Chad’s Sanctuary http://www.stchadssanctuary.com/
As a whole school and staff, we will also be fundraising to support Father Hudson's homeless shelter in Birmingham, Tabor House https://www.fatherhudsons.org.uk/community-projects/tabor-house/191.htm.
The main fundraising day will be next Friday 19th March. Your child's classteacher will communicate with you the COVID friendly fundraising activity for the day.
Parents' Evening for Year 1 to Year 6
In response to feedback after last parents' evening, we are going to try and use Microsoft video calls using Teams through your child's BGFL account. If you prefer, you may have a phone call. You will be able to book a 10 minute session on Squid. Ms Symons will email all parents when Squid is ready to take the bookings. The Parents Evenings will be Thursday 25th March 3.30 pm to 6pm and Tuesday 30th March 3.30pm to 6 pm. If these times are not convenient, please let us know and we can arrange another time.
For our Reception class, there will be parent consultations just after Easter.
Stars of the week
Well done to the following children:
Rec - Junnat for great talking and asking lots of questions; Arthur for settling back in with his friends with confidence; Zydan, brilliant number work;
Year 1 - Anas for amazing work on his Common Exception words; Benjamin, super writing of the Goldilocks story;
Year 2 - Zak for excellent answers in our guided reading lessons and for improving the presentation of his written work; Umar for improving his ability to decode words for reading; Lucas and Beyonce for reading;
Year 3 - Jeramiah for super maths work on angles; Lilly for an excellent persuasive letter; Maryam for completing her phonics booklet with Mrs Braithwaite and excellent reading of the key words; Neha for her great understanding of angles in maths; Holly for reading;
Year 4 - the whole class for settling in so well;
Year 5 - Ayaan and Yusuf A for working well in a team in tennis;
Year 6 - Amina for her excellent work on area in maths; Omoruyi for the progress he has made in his reading; Muhammad for showing enthusiasm for our new "Rafferty’s Recommended Reading scheme".
Virtues - being attentive and discerning
Shalom for being attentive to his friend who was very upset and staying with him until he was ok;
Zoya being attentive and discerning in supporting another child during guided reading;
Keeping our children safe on the pavements
Leave earlier, park further away, walk. Do not block drives nor attempt three point turns outside school.
Keeping our community safe from COVID
Wash hands, do not mix, stay home, let us know if someone is ill.
God bless and stay safe this weekend.
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents
As a school community, during Lent, we pray more, give things up and raise money for the poor. Each class has a charity which they support. This year the charities are as follows:
Reception - St Mary’s Hospice https://www.birminghamhospice.org.uk/
Year 1 - Acorns https://www.acorns.org.uk/
Year 2 - St Basil’s -youth homelessness in Birmingham https://stbasils.org.uk/
Year 3 - The QE Hospital Neurovascular Department https://www.uhb.nhs.uk/neurology.htm
Year 4 - Great Ormond Street Hospital https://www.gosh.org/
Year 5 - CAFOD https://cafod.org.uk/
Year 6 - St Chad’s Sanctuary http://www.stchadssanctuary.com/
As a whole school and staff, we will also be fundraising to support Father Hudson's homeless shelter in Birmingham, Tabor House https://www.fatherhudsons.org.uk/community-projects/tabor-house/191.htm.
The main fundraising day will be next Friday 19th March. Your child's classteacher will communicate with you the COVID friendly fundraising activity for the day.
Parents' Evening for Year 1 to Year 6
In response to feedback after last parents' evening, we are going to try and use Microsoft video calls using Teams through your child's BGFL account. If you prefer, you may have a phone call. You will be able to book a 10 minute session on Squid. Ms Symons will email all parents when Squid is ready to take the bookings. The Parents Evenings will be Thursday 25th March 3.30 pm to 6pm and Tuesday 30th March 3.30pm to 6 pm. If these times are not convenient, please let us know and we can arrange another time.
For our Reception class, there will be parent consultations just after Easter.
Stars of the week
Well done to the following children:
Rec - Junnat for great talking and asking lots of questions; Arthur for settling back in with his friends with confidence; Zydan, brilliant number work;
Year 1 - Anas for amazing work on his Common Exception words; Benjamin, super writing of the Goldilocks story;
Year 2 - Zak for excellent answers in our guided reading lessons and for improving the presentation of his written work; Umar for improving his ability to decode words for reading; Lucas and Beyonce for reading;
Year 3 - Jeramiah for super maths work on angles; Lilly for an excellent persuasive letter; Maryam for completing her phonics booklet with Mrs Braithwaite and excellent reading of the key words; Neha for her great understanding of angles in maths; Holly for reading;
Year 4 - the whole class for settling in so well;
Year 5 - Ayaan and Yusuf A for working well in a team in tennis;
Year 6 - Amina for her excellent work on area in maths; Omoruyi for the progress he has made in his reading; Muhammad for showing enthusiasm for our new "Rafferty’s Recommended Reading scheme".
Virtues - being attentive and discerning
Shalom for being attentive to his friend who was very upset and staying with him until he was ok;
Zoya being attentive and discerning in supporting another child during guided reading;
Keeping our children safe on the pavements
Leave earlier, park further away, walk. Do not block drives nor attempt three point turns outside school.
Keeping our community safe from COVID
Wash hands, do not mix, stay home, let us know if someone is ill.
God bless and stay safe this weekend.
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Thursday 11th March - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear All
Children's well-being, learning and attainment
We have been so proud of your children as they have returned to us and worked really hard. Their behaviour, especially in the high winds, has been excellent and they are, as always, a great credit to you.
We have balanced our work around wellbeing with assessment of the children. This will continue next week so we can get an accurate picture of the attainment of the whole school as well as individuals. We will send out information about parents' evening on Monday so we can share the assessment with you.
Road safety
Yesterday, we had a tragic reminder of how dangerous roads are when a 17 year old was knocked down on the high street. We pray for that young man who is fighting for his life and for the driver of the car who must be devastated by the incident.
If you have no choice but to use the car, please drive and park carefully around school. The situation has been made harder because the car park at the All Services' Club on Church Road is being used by the construction workers building the Moseley Railway Station. Thank you to everyone who has been using that car park up to now and to all of you who park away from school and walk - it makes a big difference to the risk our children face from poorly parked cars and erratic driving.
Our message is simple but difficult to achieve in busy lives: leave earlier, park further away, walk.
If we can follow this, our children are safer and fitter.
COVID
Thank you for all you are doing to keep us safe. Whilst the news about the vaccine is positive, the infection rates are still high in Moseley and Sparkhill. The message here is also simple:
Wash hands frequently, do not mix, wear a mask, tell us if anyone in your household is ill, tell us if anyone in your household is going abroad.
God bless and keep safe
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear All
Children's well-being, learning and attainment
We have been so proud of your children as they have returned to us and worked really hard. Their behaviour, especially in the high winds, has been excellent and they are, as always, a great credit to you.
We have balanced our work around wellbeing with assessment of the children. This will continue next week so we can get an accurate picture of the attainment of the whole school as well as individuals. We will send out information about parents' evening on Monday so we can share the assessment with you.
Road safety
Yesterday, we had a tragic reminder of how dangerous roads are when a 17 year old was knocked down on the high street. We pray for that young man who is fighting for his life and for the driver of the car who must be devastated by the incident.
If you have no choice but to use the car, please drive and park carefully around school. The situation has been made harder because the car park at the All Services' Club on Church Road is being used by the construction workers building the Moseley Railway Station. Thank you to everyone who has been using that car park up to now and to all of you who park away from school and walk - it makes a big difference to the risk our children face from poorly parked cars and erratic driving.
Our message is simple but difficult to achieve in busy lives: leave earlier, park further away, walk.
If we can follow this, our children are safer and fitter.
COVID
Thank you for all you are doing to keep us safe. Whilst the news about the vaccine is positive, the infection rates are still high in Moseley and Sparkhill. The message here is also simple:
Wash hands frequently, do not mix, wear a mask, tell us if anyone in your household is ill, tell us if anyone in your household is going abroad.
God bless and keep safe
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 5th March - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
I hope the children have enjoyed a day away from their screens. Well done for all the activities you were able to do today, this week and throughout lockdown.
This week was a significant one for our Year 6 children as they found out their secondary schools. Whichever school they go onto, we are deeply proud of them. For parents of children in younger year groups, it is well worth thinking about secondary schools and coming and having a chat with me or Mrs Rafferty-Jones as the time between now and your child leaving at the end of Year 6 will fly by.
Stars of the week
Year 6: Subhaan for a wonderful book review for World Book Day; Arham for creating an excellent den on No Screen Day; Saron for her magical words to create spells in this week’s English work.
Year 5: Kei Kei for fantastic work throughout lockdown; Delilah for amazing maths throughout lockdown; Finlay for fantastic story writing throughout lockdown; Nevaeh for being a brilliant book detective
Year 4: Aatika, super engagement in World Book Day including a potato and dressing up as Mildred Hubble; Haadiah, always giving thoughtful contributions to online lessons including her book review on World Book Day; Layla, enthusiasm during online lessons; Sophia, great attitude – catching up with work missed at home.
Year 3: Apologies- I'll announce these on Monday morning in assembly.
Year 2: Rayyan, for fantastic listening and for creating an amazing alternative ending for a story in English; Maleeya, Being fully engaged and offering creative ideas in English; Diya, Always reading beautifully and answering questions carefully in live guided reading; Stefan for reading clearly and showing a good understanding of what he has read.
Year 1: Kimarnie-Mae and Maddie for excellent answers in Guided Reading.
Reception: Khyren, super comprehension; Junayd, excellent handwriting.
Leaves: Maryam - attentive. Maryam was attentive to her past learning to solve a fraction problem more efficiently; Destiny - attentive by clearing away the tennis racquets before going in for lunch
Best wishes
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents
I hope the children have enjoyed a day away from their screens. Well done for all the activities you were able to do today, this week and throughout lockdown.
This week was a significant one for our Year 6 children as they found out their secondary schools. Whichever school they go onto, we are deeply proud of them. For parents of children in younger year groups, it is well worth thinking about secondary schools and coming and having a chat with me or Mrs Rafferty-Jones as the time between now and your child leaving at the end of Year 6 will fly by.
Stars of the week
Year 6: Subhaan for a wonderful book review for World Book Day; Arham for creating an excellent den on No Screen Day; Saron for her magical words to create spells in this week’s English work.
Year 5: Kei Kei for fantastic work throughout lockdown; Delilah for amazing maths throughout lockdown; Finlay for fantastic story writing throughout lockdown; Nevaeh for being a brilliant book detective
Year 4: Aatika, super engagement in World Book Day including a potato and dressing up as Mildred Hubble; Haadiah, always giving thoughtful contributions to online lessons including her book review on World Book Day; Layla, enthusiasm during online lessons; Sophia, great attitude – catching up with work missed at home.
Year 3: Apologies- I'll announce these on Monday morning in assembly.
Year 2: Rayyan, for fantastic listening and for creating an amazing alternative ending for a story in English; Maleeya, Being fully engaged and offering creative ideas in English; Diya, Always reading beautifully and answering questions carefully in live guided reading; Stefan for reading clearly and showing a good understanding of what he has read.
Year 1: Kimarnie-Mae and Maddie for excellent answers in Guided Reading.
Reception: Khyren, super comprehension; Junayd, excellent handwriting.
Leaves: Maryam - attentive. Maryam was attentive to her past learning to solve a fraction problem more efficiently; Destiny - attentive by clearing away the tennis racquets before going in for lunch
Best wishes
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 26th February - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
Back to school - 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 2021
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 2021
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
Dear Parents
Back to school - 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 2021
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 2021
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
Friday 12th February - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
I hope that you are well. Thank you for your generosity this week. We have received further donations for those who are struggling and also some beautiful homemade donuts for the staff as part of the Polish tradition of marking the coming of Lent next week. As a Catholic school, Lent is a very important season that helps to move closer to God in our lives by fasting, giving to the poor and praying more. It is important that we model for our children the way in which happiness depends not on material possessions but being at peace with God and with our neighbours.
During half term, if your family find themselves in crisis or you need any support, please do not hesitate to email me.
Miss McArdle has secured some codes from BT to help with internet access when children are working online from home. Please email me if this would be useful to you. The National Oak Academy website is now data free and I recommend using the excellent resources on there.
For those of you who are fans of the author Frank Cotterell-Boyce, there was another creative writing session this week which can be found here https://t.co/VZMV3Vp4W1?amp=1 Even you do not have time to watch the full hour, please note what he says at 10 minutes 49 secs.
Stars of the Week
Reception- Salahuddin for his work on ordering numbers; Melissa for her 3D house and Junayd for his work on phonics and numbers.
Year 1- Isaac and Abu Bakr, excellent work learning their sounds in phonics; Ibrahim for reading; Ereshva for her phonics and number work;
Year 2- Tye, Uthman and Adiyy for their hard work at home;
Year 3- Jeramiah for excellent subtraction work; Adam for use of sentence openers and vocabulary in his character profile;
Year 4- Tezzy for his work in PE and football at home; Halima for her reading; Freya for her hard work online; Haris for reading 25 books on the EPIC scheme and fort his book review;
Year 5- William for his computer programming; Affi for the range of sentence types in her writing; Olivia for her online guided reading; Adyan for fantastic work on internet safety;
Year 6- Kayden designing a Tudor house online; Amina for her beautiful paragraphs on her new invention; Isabel for completing Miss Haydon’s PE challenge about her favourite sport; Alia for creating her own PPT on art.
I wish you a safe half term break. If at all possible, put the screens away and encourage the children to do some imaginative play, pick up a book or write. We still do not know when we are all back but we are hopeful that it will be on 8th March. The lockdown has been a struggle but it has reduced the infections so thank you for all you have done as individuals and families not to mix with family and friends.
Finally, and very sadly, next half term will be my last at St Martin's. At Easter, after 4 and a half very happy years, I am moving on to work for a Multi Academy Trust on the far side of Dudley. I have loved working here and I will take with me many happy memories. St Martin de Porres is an exceptional school because of the talents the children bring with them. It has been a privilege to get to know them, to meet all of you and to benefit from your support for the school. I am looking forward to my final half term especially (hopefully) when we are all back together.
This is a very special place to be and, with the wonderful staff here, the children will continue to flourish. Please be reassured that there will be no change in the excellent provision here.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents
I hope that you are well. Thank you for your generosity this week. We have received further donations for those who are struggling and also some beautiful homemade donuts for the staff as part of the Polish tradition of marking the coming of Lent next week. As a Catholic school, Lent is a very important season that helps to move closer to God in our lives by fasting, giving to the poor and praying more. It is important that we model for our children the way in which happiness depends not on material possessions but being at peace with God and with our neighbours.
During half term, if your family find themselves in crisis or you need any support, please do not hesitate to email me.
Miss McArdle has secured some codes from BT to help with internet access when children are working online from home. Please email me if this would be useful to you. The National Oak Academy website is now data free and I recommend using the excellent resources on there.
For those of you who are fans of the author Frank Cotterell-Boyce, there was another creative writing session this week which can be found here https://t.co/VZMV3Vp4W1?amp=1 Even you do not have time to watch the full hour, please note what he says at 10 minutes 49 secs.
Stars of the Week
Reception- Salahuddin for his work on ordering numbers; Melissa for her 3D house and Junayd for his work on phonics and numbers.
Year 1- Isaac and Abu Bakr, excellent work learning their sounds in phonics; Ibrahim for reading; Ereshva for her phonics and number work;
Year 2- Tye, Uthman and Adiyy for their hard work at home;
Year 3- Jeramiah for excellent subtraction work; Adam for use of sentence openers and vocabulary in his character profile;
Year 4- Tezzy for his work in PE and football at home; Halima for her reading; Freya for her hard work online; Haris for reading 25 books on the EPIC scheme and fort his book review;
Year 5- William for his computer programming; Affi for the range of sentence types in her writing; Olivia for her online guided reading; Adyan for fantastic work on internet safety;
Year 6- Kayden designing a Tudor house online; Amina for her beautiful paragraphs on her new invention; Isabel for completing Miss Haydon’s PE challenge about her favourite sport; Alia for creating her own PPT on art.
I wish you a safe half term break. If at all possible, put the screens away and encourage the children to do some imaginative play, pick up a book or write. We still do not know when we are all back but we are hopeful that it will be on 8th March. The lockdown has been a struggle but it has reduced the infections so thank you for all you have done as individuals and families not to mix with family and friends.
Finally, and very sadly, next half term will be my last at St Martin's. At Easter, after 4 and a half very happy years, I am moving on to work for a Multi Academy Trust on the far side of Dudley. I have loved working here and I will take with me many happy memories. St Martin de Porres is an exceptional school because of the talents the children bring with them. It has been a privilege to get to know them, to meet all of you and to benefit from your support for the school. I am looking forward to my final half term especially (hopefully) when we are all back together.
This is a very special place to be and, with the wonderful staff here, the children will continue to flourish. Please be reassured that there will be no change in the excellent provision here.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 5th February - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
I hope you are well. I must begin with a "thank you" to the kind person who organised the delivery of chocolate for the staff from Toby's Treats on Watford Road- it was very much appreciated. Thank you for all of you for your patience with technology this week. I know at times it has been difficult and the whole IT system is struggling with the volume of videos and live lessons. The Governing Body have agreed to have the servers replaced but it is taking longer to ship new ones over due to the pandemic and also Brexit.
Next Tuesday is the national safer internet day and every class will be doing some activities around staying safe online.
After a month of lockdown, we are finally seeing the COVID transmission rate reduce although Birmingham hospitals are still struggling with 854 COVID patients this week of whom 143 are on ventilators. We must therefore continue to be very careful and follow the guidance. We have not been told anything by the government but we are still hopeful of having children back in school on 8th March.
Well done to everyone who managed to do some work each day this week.
Our stars of the week are:
Reception Damanika for her singing; Ayaan for his reading following the online EPIC scheme
Year 1: Safa for her phonics; Hayaan for his work in guided reading lessons; Anas for his work at home on 2D/3D shapes; Insha for her reading during online lessons
Year 2: Poppy for her reading of books in the EPIC scheme; Diya for participation in online lessons; Eleen for reading clearly with beautiful expression; Maleeya for her painitng of the Great Fire of London
Year 3: Isabella for her riddle; Harun for a detailed factifile on King Tutankhamun; Eli for fantastic superhero description; Ayana for excellent addition of 2 digit numbers
Year 4: Destiny for her reading; Nabisha, Haris and Oskar for making excellent sandwiches; Usayd for a superb poster of the Roman gods; Ksenija for clear explanations in online maths lessons; Mimi for great drawing on the BGFL.
Year 5: Kei Kei for her moon diary; Delilah for a fantastic poem and piece of art work; Mikhail for his independent story
Year 6's stars will be in next week.
Well done to Year 5 and Year 4 who are winning their Timestables Rock star challenges.
Keep safe
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents
I hope you are well. I must begin with a "thank you" to the kind person who organised the delivery of chocolate for the staff from Toby's Treats on Watford Road- it was very much appreciated. Thank you for all of you for your patience with technology this week. I know at times it has been difficult and the whole IT system is struggling with the volume of videos and live lessons. The Governing Body have agreed to have the servers replaced but it is taking longer to ship new ones over due to the pandemic and also Brexit.
Next Tuesday is the national safer internet day and every class will be doing some activities around staying safe online.
After a month of lockdown, we are finally seeing the COVID transmission rate reduce although Birmingham hospitals are still struggling with 854 COVID patients this week of whom 143 are on ventilators. We must therefore continue to be very careful and follow the guidance. We have not been told anything by the government but we are still hopeful of having children back in school on 8th March.
Well done to everyone who managed to do some work each day this week.
Our stars of the week are:
Reception Damanika for her singing; Ayaan for his reading following the online EPIC scheme
Year 1: Safa for her phonics; Hayaan for his work in guided reading lessons; Anas for his work at home on 2D/3D shapes; Insha for her reading during online lessons
Year 2: Poppy for her reading of books in the EPIC scheme; Diya for participation in online lessons; Eleen for reading clearly with beautiful expression; Maleeya for her painitng of the Great Fire of London
Year 3: Isabella for her riddle; Harun for a detailed factifile on King Tutankhamun; Eli for fantastic superhero description; Ayana for excellent addition of 2 digit numbers
Year 4: Destiny for her reading; Nabisha, Haris and Oskar for making excellent sandwiches; Usayd for a superb poster of the Roman gods; Ksenija for clear explanations in online maths lessons; Mimi for great drawing on the BGFL.
Year 5: Kei Kei for her moon diary; Delilah for a fantastic poem and piece of art work; Mikhail for his independent story
Year 6's stars will be in next week.
Well done to Year 5 and Year 4 who are winning their Timestables Rock star challenges.
Keep safe
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 29th January - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
I hope that you are all well. I apologise that I have not written before this week but we have been stretched more than normal this week with the challenge of providing remote learning, care in school and phone calls home. Four weeks into the lockdown, we appreciate how difficult the situation is for everyone. If you are managing any sort of family routine which includes some learning, you are doing brilliantly. The most important elements are the reading (especially phonics for Rec, Year 1 and Year 2) and the mathematics. Please do continue to look at the class page on the website each day. to try and meet all our children's needs over the next four weeks, we may not be able to manage quite the quantity of class lessons we have achieved to date but we will maintain the quality whilst reaching out to support more individual needs. The most important thing is that, as parents, you are keeping the children and your families safe so thank you for all you are doing. From Monday, all staff will be doing Lateral Flow COVID Tests as a further strategy to reduce the risk of transmission.
Stars of the Week:
Reception: Yiannis and Junayd for their reading of books on the EPIC scheme.
Year 1: Kazim for fantastic reading and comprehension; Maryam for excellent work in all areas at home.
Year 2: Tye for maturity in his approach to working at home; Zak for his excellent subject knowledge about space; Adiyy for his enthusiasm for his learning at home; Fariha for the clarity of her reading aloud online.
Year 3: Holly for coding an animated dolphin in Computing; Ismail S for all his online learning; Livia for her excellent contribution to live lessons; Maya for her fantastic understanding of the text in Guided Reading.
Year 4: Hamza - fantastic answers in Guided Reading; Maryam for her creative writing with a story about a portal; Habiba for her excellent work on Transfiguaration; Scarlett for her wonderful story plan that she uploaded to the BGfL.
Year 5: Shiv for his research on volcanoes; Ayaan for his use of vocabulary in writing; Mem for his story writing and Finlay for his use of figurative language in writing.
Year 6: Aamna for her science work at home; Isabel for her work on volcanoes; Arham for his drawings with perspective in online art lessons; Ishmail and Kayden for carefully observing a pair of nuthatches and finding them on a bird poster.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if we can support you and your family in any way.
Best wishes
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents
I hope that you are all well. I apologise that I have not written before this week but we have been stretched more than normal this week with the challenge of providing remote learning, care in school and phone calls home. Four weeks into the lockdown, we appreciate how difficult the situation is for everyone. If you are managing any sort of family routine which includes some learning, you are doing brilliantly. The most important elements are the reading (especially phonics for Rec, Year 1 and Year 2) and the mathematics. Please do continue to look at the class page on the website each day. to try and meet all our children's needs over the next four weeks, we may not be able to manage quite the quantity of class lessons we have achieved to date but we will maintain the quality whilst reaching out to support more individual needs. The most important thing is that, as parents, you are keeping the children and your families safe so thank you for all you are doing. From Monday, all staff will be doing Lateral Flow COVID Tests as a further strategy to reduce the risk of transmission.
Stars of the Week:
Reception: Yiannis and Junayd for their reading of books on the EPIC scheme.
Year 1: Kazim for fantastic reading and comprehension; Maryam for excellent work in all areas at home.
Year 2: Tye for maturity in his approach to working at home; Zak for his excellent subject knowledge about space; Adiyy for his enthusiasm for his learning at home; Fariha for the clarity of her reading aloud online.
Year 3: Holly for coding an animated dolphin in Computing; Ismail S for all his online learning; Livia for her excellent contribution to live lessons; Maya for her fantastic understanding of the text in Guided Reading.
Year 4: Hamza - fantastic answers in Guided Reading; Maryam for her creative writing with a story about a portal; Habiba for her excellent work on Transfiguaration; Scarlett for her wonderful story plan that she uploaded to the BGfL.
Year 5: Shiv for his research on volcanoes; Ayaan for his use of vocabulary in writing; Mem for his story writing and Finlay for his use of figurative language in writing.
Year 6: Aamna for her science work at home; Isabel for her work on volcanoes; Arham for his drawings with perspective in online art lessons; Ishmail and Kayden for carefully observing a pair of nuthatches and finding them on a bird poster.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if we can support you and your family in any way.
Best wishes
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 22nd January - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents,
Please keep in your prayers and thoughts the families in our school community who are ill or bereaved at this time. We pray that they experience the comfort and healing of God's love. We are reminded of the seriousness of the virus on a daily basis as we have a member of staff who is quite ill following transmission within their household. We continually review our risk assessment including the additional cleaning we have in school in order to keep everyone as safe as possible. Next week, the government have asked staff to be tested every 3 to 4 days following evidence that primary school staff are 2 to 3 times as likely as the general population to have COVID. We are grateful for the respect and care shown to our staff and families by the parents at St Martin's and contrast this with the numerous anecdotes from other schools of lockdown breeches putting lives at risk. Thank you to all of you.
Apologies if you've sent me an email and are awaiting a reply but trying to balance safety, meeting all our children's needs and managing the budget, I have been in class this week.
Well done to all the children for the work they are doing at home. It is not easy, but as long as your children are engaging in some work each day, they will be fine.
Our stars of the week are:
Reception: Luke for his comprehension work during remote reading activities; Melissa for making salt dough animals at home as part of the expressive arts and design curriculum
Year 1: Benjamin for his work on the suffix -ed in English and Daniel for his explanation of how he belongs to the Church.
Year 2: Tabitha for the dolls house she has made at home; Joseph for his online maths work on division and multiplication
Year 3: Harun for his excellent character description during online English lessons; Noah for his hard work in all online lessons
Year 4: Kassim for his excellent online learning; Salih for his knowledge of French colours
Year 5: Affi for her fantastic ghost stories; Kei Kei for her research at home in science, geography and RE
Year 6: Havana for her portrait and Shalom for his picture of a volcano
This half term we are looking out for children displaying the virtues of being generous and grateful so I hope you are hearing lots of thank yous at home. Ammarah has been nominated for a virtues leaf for showing gratitude for all the feedback she receives and Kassim has been nominated for his generous praise of other's work online.
Key Stage 2 have had the book Cosmic serialised for them on the BGFL. Yesterday the author, Frank Cottrell Boyce, held a live, national, questions and answer session. Unfortunately, the link did not work at first but when they finally sorted it out, it was great to hear Harry, Destiny and Maryam's names mentioned for a question they asked. The whole session is here https://youtu.be/Tm7-Qm9fIso and the children get a mention about 13 minutes 50 seconds in.
We have received a few more entries for the art exhibition. Please keep them coming in - any way of capturing through art what you are missing during lockdown is great.
Keep safe
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents,
Please keep in your prayers and thoughts the families in our school community who are ill or bereaved at this time. We pray that they experience the comfort and healing of God's love. We are reminded of the seriousness of the virus on a daily basis as we have a member of staff who is quite ill following transmission within their household. We continually review our risk assessment including the additional cleaning we have in school in order to keep everyone as safe as possible. Next week, the government have asked staff to be tested every 3 to 4 days following evidence that primary school staff are 2 to 3 times as likely as the general population to have COVID. We are grateful for the respect and care shown to our staff and families by the parents at St Martin's and contrast this with the numerous anecdotes from other schools of lockdown breeches putting lives at risk. Thank you to all of you.
Apologies if you've sent me an email and are awaiting a reply but trying to balance safety, meeting all our children's needs and managing the budget, I have been in class this week.
Well done to all the children for the work they are doing at home. It is not easy, but as long as your children are engaging in some work each day, they will be fine.
Our stars of the week are:
Reception: Luke for his comprehension work during remote reading activities; Melissa for making salt dough animals at home as part of the expressive arts and design curriculum
Year 1: Benjamin for his work on the suffix -ed in English and Daniel for his explanation of how he belongs to the Church.
Year 2: Tabitha for the dolls house she has made at home; Joseph for his online maths work on division and multiplication
Year 3: Harun for his excellent character description during online English lessons; Noah for his hard work in all online lessons
Year 4: Kassim for his excellent online learning; Salih for his knowledge of French colours
Year 5: Affi for her fantastic ghost stories; Kei Kei for her research at home in science, geography and RE
Year 6: Havana for her portrait and Shalom for his picture of a volcano
This half term we are looking out for children displaying the virtues of being generous and grateful so I hope you are hearing lots of thank yous at home. Ammarah has been nominated for a virtues leaf for showing gratitude for all the feedback she receives and Kassim has been nominated for his generous praise of other's work online.
Key Stage 2 have had the book Cosmic serialised for them on the BGFL. Yesterday the author, Frank Cottrell Boyce, held a live, national, questions and answer session. Unfortunately, the link did not work at first but when they finally sorted it out, it was great to hear Harry, Destiny and Maryam's names mentioned for a question they asked. The whole session is here https://youtu.be/Tm7-Qm9fIso and the children get a mention about 13 minutes 50 seconds in.
We have received a few more entries for the art exhibition. Please keep them coming in - any way of capturing through art what you are missing during lockdown is great.
Keep safe
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 8th January - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents,
We have had 31 children in school whose parents meet the criteria for key workers or who are deemed to be vulnerable. In order to keep everyone safe from the virus, we need to keep the number mixing as low as possible and we appreciate that the children who are with us are here because their parents have no other choice.
We have heard in the last hour that a member of staff has tested positive. Although this was as a result of transmission in the home and not in school, the news once again brings it home just how vulnerable all of us are to the virus.
There has been some excellent work going on at home. We have seen work posted on the BGfL from half the children in the school and we also know that children have been working from the packs that were sent home. If your child can work on the BGfL or you are able to take a photograph and upload, we can feedback to you. The engagement with videos and live lessons seems good despite the technical problems that we have encountered and I know at times it has been very frustrating at home. Just a reminder that if your child is in a live lesson please remind her or him to keep the camera switched off. For safeguarding reasons, we cannot put lessons we have recorded onto the BGfL if the recording includes the insides of people's homes.
Please let us know if your child is working hard on activities but you are not able to upload them to the BGfL. Conversely, if your child is refusing to work, please do not worry but let us know and we will support you.
With so much excellent work going on this week, we have the following stars of the week:
Rec: Khyren for his writing at home; Yiannis for his work on sequencing the story "Handa's Surprise" by Eileen Browne
Year 1 Zak for excellent phonics work at home; Maira for her poem uploaded to the BGfL
Year 2 Addy for his work at home on split diagraphs; Hana Saddique for her hard work in school
Year 3 Joseph for his playscript for the Gingerbread Man; Matthew for his excellent work in the online guided reading
Year 4 Umar for his knowledge in the online French lesson; Oskar for his outstanding contributions to all the online lessons
Year 5 Adyan for his excellent work on Brazil; Mikhail for his work in writing a story plot.
Year 6 Hajrah for her hard work in online guided reading; Isabel for her beautiful RE work at home
Our values for the Catholic Pupil Profile this half-term are being Grateful and Generous. We have wonderful role models in our community of people, even in the pandemic, being grateful for what they have and being generous to others. Over the next few weeks, we will be looking for examples amongst our children.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents,
We have had 31 children in school whose parents meet the criteria for key workers or who are deemed to be vulnerable. In order to keep everyone safe from the virus, we need to keep the number mixing as low as possible and we appreciate that the children who are with us are here because their parents have no other choice.
We have heard in the last hour that a member of staff has tested positive. Although this was as a result of transmission in the home and not in school, the news once again brings it home just how vulnerable all of us are to the virus.
There has been some excellent work going on at home. We have seen work posted on the BGfL from half the children in the school and we also know that children have been working from the packs that were sent home. If your child can work on the BGfL or you are able to take a photograph and upload, we can feedback to you. The engagement with videos and live lessons seems good despite the technical problems that we have encountered and I know at times it has been very frustrating at home. Just a reminder that if your child is in a live lesson please remind her or him to keep the camera switched off. For safeguarding reasons, we cannot put lessons we have recorded onto the BGfL if the recording includes the insides of people's homes.
Please let us know if your child is working hard on activities but you are not able to upload them to the BGfL. Conversely, if your child is refusing to work, please do not worry but let us know and we will support you.
With so much excellent work going on this week, we have the following stars of the week:
Rec: Khyren for his writing at home; Yiannis for his work on sequencing the story "Handa's Surprise" by Eileen Browne
Year 1 Zak for excellent phonics work at home; Maira for her poem uploaded to the BGfL
Year 2 Addy for his work at home on split diagraphs; Hana Saddique for her hard work in school
Year 3 Joseph for his playscript for the Gingerbread Man; Matthew for his excellent work in the online guided reading
Year 4 Umar for his knowledge in the online French lesson; Oskar for his outstanding contributions to all the online lessons
Year 5 Adyan for his excellent work on Brazil; Mikhail for his work in writing a story plot.
Year 6 Hajrah for her hard work in online guided reading; Isabel for her beautiful RE work at home
Our values for the Catholic Pupil Profile this half-term are being Grateful and Generous. We have wonderful role models in our community of people, even in the pandemic, being grateful for what they have and being generous to others. Over the next few weeks, we will be looking for examples amongst our children.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 18th December - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
We had a wonderful final week in school thanks to the activities funded by you through the PTA including the pantomime, the craft activities and the parties. On Thursday afternoon, we were delighted to have a visit from Father Christmas who, despite being rushed off his feet at this time of year, stopped at each classroom door to say "hello".
Please keep safe over Christmas. Between 23rd and 27th December, a maximum of three households are allowed to mix inside but please be very careful as infections, hospital admissions and deaths are all rising again. We must not mix with two households one day and a different two households on another day. If anyone in a household develops symptoms, everyone in the household must self-isolate until the results of the test. Please keep reminding the children to wash their hands frequently for at least 20 seconds so that we can all come back healthy on Monday 4th January.
The staff have spent today looking at the children's attainment during last term and planning to continue to close any gaps left by the lockdown. For those families who qualify for free school meal through the benefits system, Mrs Sullivan has been doing the administration for the food vouchers over the next 2 weeks. The school has had a very thorough clean today.
Thank you again for incredible generosity in the presents and cards you've sent in for staff. We very much appreciate your kindness and thoughtfulness. Thank you also for the fantastic donations of food for the children's party. Every class had lots of wonderful party food to eat. There was some left over which is being shared between the Sparkhill Foodbank and the Active Well-being Society's Christmas appeal. We have received further cash donations from families for our hardship fund for families who find themselves in crisis. If you need our support at any time over the holiday period, please email me. I will check the emails each day and respond.
Your children have worked incredibly hard this term and we are proud of each and every one of them. They are such a credit to you.
I wish you all a happy and holy Christmas.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents
We had a wonderful final week in school thanks to the activities funded by you through the PTA including the pantomime, the craft activities and the parties. On Thursday afternoon, we were delighted to have a visit from Father Christmas who, despite being rushed off his feet at this time of year, stopped at each classroom door to say "hello".
Please keep safe over Christmas. Between 23rd and 27th December, a maximum of three households are allowed to mix inside but please be very careful as infections, hospital admissions and deaths are all rising again. We must not mix with two households one day and a different two households on another day. If anyone in a household develops symptoms, everyone in the household must self-isolate until the results of the test. Please keep reminding the children to wash their hands frequently for at least 20 seconds so that we can all come back healthy on Monday 4th January.
The staff have spent today looking at the children's attainment during last term and planning to continue to close any gaps left by the lockdown. For those families who qualify for free school meal through the benefits system, Mrs Sullivan has been doing the administration for the food vouchers over the next 2 weeks. The school has had a very thorough clean today.
Thank you again for incredible generosity in the presents and cards you've sent in for staff. We very much appreciate your kindness and thoughtfulness. Thank you also for the fantastic donations of food for the children's party. Every class had lots of wonderful party food to eat. There was some left over which is being shared between the Sparkhill Foodbank and the Active Well-being Society's Christmas appeal. We have received further cash donations from families for our hardship fund for families who find themselves in crisis. If you need our support at any time over the holiday period, please email me. I will check the emails each day and respond.
Your children have worked incredibly hard this term and we are proud of each and every one of them. They are such a credit to you.
I wish you all a happy and holy Christmas.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Thursday 10th December - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear All,
There was some excellent work undertaken in class last week.
The stars of the week were:
Reception: Hadiyah - for the presentation of her work
Haniyah - for her maths work
Year 1: Inaaya - for the clarity of her instructional writing
Madiha - for her addition in Maths
Year 3: Jeramiah - for his handwriting
Aisha - for hardwork in Design Technology lessons
Year 4: Ibrahim for excellent art work
Jaydam for writing a high quality playscript
Year 5: Fahad for sportsmanship in PE
Taliya for a well thought out writing plan in English
Year 6: Mary for her wonderful Anderson Shelter design.
Linguist of the week: Oskar for his work in French
Sportsperson of the week: all of Year 1 for their progress in skipping. We have received some great news about our children's levels of physical activity since we came back with recognition from Birmingham Games Organisation of all the work overseen by Miss Haydon.
Catholic Profile - this half-term we have focussed on being "intentional" and "prophetic":
Khyren and Haadiyah for their prophetic portrayal of Joseph and Mary in our school role-play of the Christmas Story.
Leah for prophetically living out God's word through her actions.
Ilarnah for her prophetic leaflet explaining how to observe Advent.
Mass at St John and St Martin
It was wonderful for the parish to be able to celebrate Mass last weekend. The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday meaning "rejoice". Whilst there is so much suffering in our community and the wider world, we rejoice that God is at close at hand.
Final Week
As we enter the final week of term, the children continue to work hard and their behaviour, despite their tiredness, the lockdown and poor weather, is a great credit to you.
Tomorrow morning the final editing of the children's Christmas performance will be complete and I will write to you with the link. Our flautists have been recorded this afternoon.
Thank you for your generosity in providing food for the parties. This is being stored for 72 hours before being distributed to the classes. Any food left over will go to Sparkhill foodbank on Friday.
We are hoping for a very special visitor on Thursday.
Christmas raffles: the PTA raffle will be drawn on Wednesday and the children's toy raffle on Thursday (if wish your child's name to be entered and you have not yet sent 50p, please send 50p tomorrow or Wednesday)
Free workshops for adults.
Please find below a poster about workshops for parents.
Thank you
Thank you for all your generosity in sending presents to staff. It's appreciated enormously but you don't need to because your present to all of is entrusting us with the education of your children; it is a huge privilege.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear All,
There was some excellent work undertaken in class last week.
The stars of the week were:
Reception: Hadiyah - for the presentation of her work
Haniyah - for her maths work
Year 1: Inaaya - for the clarity of her instructional writing
Madiha - for her addition in Maths
Year 3: Jeramiah - for his handwriting
Aisha - for hardwork in Design Technology lessons
Year 4: Ibrahim for excellent art work
Jaydam for writing a high quality playscript
Year 5: Fahad for sportsmanship in PE
Taliya for a well thought out writing plan in English
Year 6: Mary for her wonderful Anderson Shelter design.
Linguist of the week: Oskar for his work in French
Sportsperson of the week: all of Year 1 for their progress in skipping. We have received some great news about our children's levels of physical activity since we came back with recognition from Birmingham Games Organisation of all the work overseen by Miss Haydon.
Catholic Profile - this half-term we have focussed on being "intentional" and "prophetic":
Khyren and Haadiyah for their prophetic portrayal of Joseph and Mary in our school role-play of the Christmas Story.
Leah for prophetically living out God's word through her actions.
Ilarnah for her prophetic leaflet explaining how to observe Advent.
Mass at St John and St Martin
It was wonderful for the parish to be able to celebrate Mass last weekend. The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday meaning "rejoice". Whilst there is so much suffering in our community and the wider world, we rejoice that God is at close at hand.
Final Week
As we enter the final week of term, the children continue to work hard and their behaviour, despite their tiredness, the lockdown and poor weather, is a great credit to you.
Tomorrow morning the final editing of the children's Christmas performance will be complete and I will write to you with the link. Our flautists have been recorded this afternoon.
Thank you for your generosity in providing food for the parties. This is being stored for 72 hours before being distributed to the classes. Any food left over will go to Sparkhill foodbank on Friday.
We are hoping for a very special visitor on Thursday.
Christmas raffles: the PTA raffle will be drawn on Wednesday and the children's toy raffle on Thursday (if wish your child's name to be entered and you have not yet sent 50p, please send 50p tomorrow or Wednesday)
Free workshops for adults.
Please find below a poster about workshops for parents.
Thank you
Thank you for all your generosity in sending presents to staff. It's appreciated enormously but you don't need to because your present to all of is entrusting us with the education of your children; it is a huge privilege.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Thursday 10th December - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents,
I hope you are all well and keeping safe.
We are delighted that Mass is returning to St John and St Martin's this Saturday at 4pm for families and also on Sunday at 9.30am. For those of you who have not been before, our parish Church is on George Street, Balsall Heath. This week, after the socially distanced Mass at 4 pm on Saturday, children can decorate the Christmas tree (in a COVID secure way). If you go on the parish website, you can also book places at the Christmas masses http://www.ssjohnandmartin.org.uk/
Christmas
Apologies that I mistakenly thought that the children's Christmas dinner could be booked on Squid. You need to contact the office either by phone 0121 464 5500 or email to book it.
Thank you to everyone who has bought PTA raffle tickets. All the children will benefit from your generosity. The raffle will be drawn on Wednesday (16th) in the morning and (hopefully) live streamed into the classrooms so the children can watch. If your ticket is drawn out, you will be notified on Wednesday afternoon.
Separately to the PTA raffle, we have recently received donations of brand new toys which we would like to raffle with the children. Therefore on Monday and Tuesday, your child may bring 50p to their classroom to buy a ticket. The draw will be held on Thursday on the party day. The money raised will go towards the PTA hardship fund to support families in financial crisis.
If your child wishes to write Christmas cards, please send them in to the classroom on Monday so they can be stored for 72 hours (in line with COVID guidance) before being distributed.
The Christmas video will be out asap.
Learning
We have been really impressed with the quality of the children's work over the last few weeks. As well as the number of children who are reading with parents and doing online Maths homework, we have seen excellent progress in classes across the curriculum. This week we are assessing Maths across the school and phonics in Years 1 and 2 and we will be analysing the results over Christmas so we can share them with you. Miss Haydon has also been looking at data around physical activities and is really pleased with the children's engagement in PE. Today, I happened to walk through the hall when all of year 3 were skipping which was great to see. There is so much excellent work going on in every class; it is a privilege to be in school with your children.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents,
I hope you are all well and keeping safe.
We are delighted that Mass is returning to St John and St Martin's this Saturday at 4pm for families and also on Sunday at 9.30am. For those of you who have not been before, our parish Church is on George Street, Balsall Heath. This week, after the socially distanced Mass at 4 pm on Saturday, children can decorate the Christmas tree (in a COVID secure way). If you go on the parish website, you can also book places at the Christmas masses http://www.ssjohnandmartin.org.uk/
Christmas
Apologies that I mistakenly thought that the children's Christmas dinner could be booked on Squid. You need to contact the office either by phone 0121 464 5500 or email to book it.
Thank you to everyone who has bought PTA raffle tickets. All the children will benefit from your generosity. The raffle will be drawn on Wednesday (16th) in the morning and (hopefully) live streamed into the classrooms so the children can watch. If your ticket is drawn out, you will be notified on Wednesday afternoon.
Separately to the PTA raffle, we have recently received donations of brand new toys which we would like to raffle with the children. Therefore on Monday and Tuesday, your child may bring 50p to their classroom to buy a ticket. The draw will be held on Thursday on the party day. The money raised will go towards the PTA hardship fund to support families in financial crisis.
If your child wishes to write Christmas cards, please send them in to the classroom on Monday so they can be stored for 72 hours (in line with COVID guidance) before being distributed.
The Christmas video will be out asap.
Learning
We have been really impressed with the quality of the children's work over the last few weeks. As well as the number of children who are reading with parents and doing online Maths homework, we have seen excellent progress in classes across the curriculum. This week we are assessing Maths across the school and phonics in Years 1 and 2 and we will be analysing the results over Christmas so we can share them with you. Miss Haydon has also been looking at data around physical activities and is really pleased with the children's engagement in PE. Today, I happened to walk through the hall when all of year 3 were skipping which was great to see. There is so much excellent work going on in every class; it is a privilege to be in school with your children.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 4th December - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear parents,
Last week included a number of highlights here in school. As always, the range of hard work that is going on in each class made it very difficult to choose individual stars but they were as follows:
Reception: Haadiyah-Noor - ordering numbers in Maths; Junayd - enthusiasm for learning;
Year 1: Naira and Areeba - working hard in all subjects
Year 2: Layth for writing a well-structured letter and Afizah for her work in multiplication
Year 3: Neha for generating a word problem in maths from a number sentence; Noah for his reading
Year 4: Haris for his work on descriptive noun phrases; Adrina for computing
Year 5: Kei Kei for her work on the solar system; Nevaeh for her work in PE
Year 6: Havana for her biographical writing.
Leaves for Catholic Pupil Profile- being prophetic and intentional
Haniyah (Reception) for her thoughtful answers about Advent in RE; Ahmed (Year 3) for intentionally giving up his time to help Mrs Laird; Oskar, Aatika, Umar and Habiba (Year 4) intentionally giving up time to tidy up; Torin (Year 5) prophetically modelling behaviours; Arham (Year 6) prophetically sharing God's word through his actions.
Linguist of the week Affi for her contribution to French lessons.
This week, we are filming the Christmas production in separate class groups which we can then edit and share with you.
Next week, we have the children's Christmas dinner on Tuesday 15th (call the office to book if your child is normally on packed lunches) and class parties on Thursday 17th (children to come in own clothes). Due to the risk of COVID transmission, children are not bringing toys in on the last day (Friday 18th) but instead the PTA are funding a Christmas craft day in each class.
Please do not forget to sign up to our Smile Amazon account (see attachment) if you are shopping on Amazon.
A reminder that the children are off from Friday 18th December and return on Tuesday 5th January. Please keep us all safe by socially distancing, not mixing with other households, not sending children in school if they or anyone else in the household has a temperature, new cough or change/loss of taste and wearing masks at the gate.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear parents,
Last week included a number of highlights here in school. As always, the range of hard work that is going on in each class made it very difficult to choose individual stars but they were as follows:
Reception: Haadiyah-Noor - ordering numbers in Maths; Junayd - enthusiasm for learning;
Year 1: Naira and Areeba - working hard in all subjects
Year 2: Layth for writing a well-structured letter and Afizah for her work in multiplication
Year 3: Neha for generating a word problem in maths from a number sentence; Noah for his reading
Year 4: Haris for his work on descriptive noun phrases; Adrina for computing
Year 5: Kei Kei for her work on the solar system; Nevaeh for her work in PE
Year 6: Havana for her biographical writing.
Leaves for Catholic Pupil Profile- being prophetic and intentional
Haniyah (Reception) for her thoughtful answers about Advent in RE; Ahmed (Year 3) for intentionally giving up his time to help Mrs Laird; Oskar, Aatika, Umar and Habiba (Year 4) intentionally giving up time to tidy up; Torin (Year 5) prophetically modelling behaviours; Arham (Year 6) prophetically sharing God's word through his actions.
Linguist of the week Affi for her contribution to French lessons.
This week, we are filming the Christmas production in separate class groups which we can then edit and share with you.
Next week, we have the children's Christmas dinner on Tuesday 15th (call the office to book if your child is normally on packed lunches) and class parties on Thursday 17th (children to come in own clothes). Due to the risk of COVID transmission, children are not bringing toys in on the last day (Friday 18th) but instead the PTA are funding a Christmas craft day in each class.
Please do not forget to sign up to our Smile Amazon account (see attachment) if you are shopping on Amazon.
A reminder that the children are off from Friday 18th December and return on Tuesday 5th January. Please keep us all safe by socially distancing, not mixing with other households, not sending children in school if they or anyone else in the household has a temperature, new cough or change/loss of taste and wearing masks at the gate.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 27th November - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
Thank you so much for the generous donations of chocolate on non-uniform day. The PTA will use this for hampers and other raffle prizes. Details of the raffle will be sent out next week. Every penny raised will go to the children's education.
Stars of the week are:
Reception: Aisha for her homework and Zydan for his Maths;
Year 1: Anas and Isaac for blending sounds together in phonics;
Year 2: Summer-Rae for phonics and Fariha for her levels of concentration in lessons;
Year 3: Maya for an excellent project on the Stone Age and Livia for her understanding of multiplication;
Year 4: Halima for explaining he predictions in Science and Haadiah for the consistent accuracy of her spellings;
Year 5: Mikhail for fantastic opening paragraph to a non-chronological report and Yusuf A. for engaging the reader in his non-chronological report;
Year 6: Taiyah for her fraction work in Maths.
The intentional and prophetic leaves on the Catholic Pupil Profile were awarded to:
Arthur for his answers during Reception's work on Advent;
Sophia for intentionally modelling making the right choices to help others;
Hanin for using her spare time to make a poster about Marcus Rashford;
Alisha for intentionally being kind;
Jeramiah intentionally helping another child who had dropped things;
Lilly for her careful approach to her work;
Havana for intentionally using her artistic skills to cheer people up.
We have introduced a new award of Linguist of the Week for hard work in French lessons. Our very first linguist award goes to Ahmed in Year 3.
Keep safe this weekend
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents
Thank you so much for the generous donations of chocolate on non-uniform day. The PTA will use this for hampers and other raffle prizes. Details of the raffle will be sent out next week. Every penny raised will go to the children's education.
Stars of the week are:
Reception: Aisha for her homework and Zydan for his Maths;
Year 1: Anas and Isaac for blending sounds together in phonics;
Year 2: Summer-Rae for phonics and Fariha for her levels of concentration in lessons;
Year 3: Maya for an excellent project on the Stone Age and Livia for her understanding of multiplication;
Year 4: Halima for explaining he predictions in Science and Haadiah for the consistent accuracy of her spellings;
Year 5: Mikhail for fantastic opening paragraph to a non-chronological report and Yusuf A. for engaging the reader in his non-chronological report;
Year 6: Taiyah for her fraction work in Maths.
The intentional and prophetic leaves on the Catholic Pupil Profile were awarded to:
Arthur for his answers during Reception's work on Advent;
Sophia for intentionally modelling making the right choices to help others;
Hanin for using her spare time to make a poster about Marcus Rashford;
Alisha for intentionally being kind;
Jeramiah intentionally helping another child who had dropped things;
Lilly for her careful approach to her work;
Havana for intentionally using her artistic skills to cheer people up.
We have introduced a new award of Linguist of the Week for hard work in French lessons. Our very first linguist award goes to Ahmed in Year 3.
Keep safe this weekend
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Thursday 26th November - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear All
I hope you and your families are well.
Reminder - Tomorrow (Friday 27th November), children may wear non-uniform in return for a donation of chocolate. The chocolate will be used for Parent Teacher Association hampers and raffle prizes. The PTA do an incredible amount of work that benefits all our children so please do support them with this and with the smile amazon accounts - see attachment. Please keep the art work coming in for the PTA exhibition about things we have missed in lockdown. We received a wonderful painting for the exhibition from one of our youngest children in Reception this week.
When we came back in September, one of our catch-up programmes was run by Miss Haydon through Birmingham School Games around physical activity. Every class concentrated on running, throwing and jumping in order to improve fitness. We were really pleased that 92% of children were present in the lessons and we heard today that our Reception children and Year 6s have been commended for being in the top 5 in their age group in Birmingham.
Many sports clubs/swimming baths closed again in this second lockdown. Once they are re-open, please do let us know by email with what physical activities your families engage.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear All
I hope you and your families are well.
Reminder - Tomorrow (Friday 27th November), children may wear non-uniform in return for a donation of chocolate. The chocolate will be used for Parent Teacher Association hampers and raffle prizes. The PTA do an incredible amount of work that benefits all our children so please do support them with this and with the smile amazon accounts - see attachment. Please keep the art work coming in for the PTA exhibition about things we have missed in lockdown. We received a wonderful painting for the exhibition from one of our youngest children in Reception this week.
When we came back in September, one of our catch-up programmes was run by Miss Haydon through Birmingham School Games around physical activity. Every class concentrated on running, throwing and jumping in order to improve fitness. We were really pleased that 92% of children were present in the lessons and we heard today that our Reception children and Year 6s have been commended for being in the top 5 in their age group in Birmingham.
Many sports clubs/swimming baths closed again in this second lockdown. Once they are re-open, please do let us know by email with what physical activities your families engage.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Monday 23rd November - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents,
I hope you are all well.
We have had a good day in school with 195 children in today and 12 children off. Well done to everyone coming from Wake Green Road for getting to school over the last few days as the roads have been heavily congested. A very kind parent asked us to share with those of you who come that way, a route along Stoney Lane and Merton Road which was lot quieter this morning.
At the end of the children's anti-bullying work last week, we received a message recorded for us by Jack Grealish, the Aston Villa and England footballer. The message came about after one of the staff sent him a request. We are delighted that he recorded it just for our children and you can view it here. If you have any concerns about bullying, please do not hesitate to ring me on 0121 464 5500.
A reminder that we have a non-uniform day this Friday (27th November) in return for the donation of a chocolate bar.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents,
I hope you are all well.
We have had a good day in school with 195 children in today and 12 children off. Well done to everyone coming from Wake Green Road for getting to school over the last few days as the roads have been heavily congested. A very kind parent asked us to share with those of you who come that way, a route along Stoney Lane and Merton Road which was lot quieter this morning.
At the end of the children's anti-bullying work last week, we received a message recorded for us by Jack Grealish, the Aston Villa and England footballer. The message came about after one of the staff sent him a request. We are delighted that he recorded it just for our children and you can view it here. If you have any concerns about bullying, please do not hesitate to ring me on 0121 464 5500.
A reminder that we have a non-uniform day this Friday (27th November) in return for the donation of a chocolate bar.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 20th November - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
I hope you and your families are well. At the beginning of the week we heard from our Sikh and Hindu children about their celebrations of Diwali under lockdown regulations. It was great to hear that the festival was able to be celebrated and the hopes of the families for a much larger celebration next year when families could once again come together.
The children have had a great week working hard in school. Anti-bullying lessons have created lots of discussion and learning about how to stop ourselves bullying; how to avoid being the victim of bullying and what to if you are bullied. Some of the work is already on the website here.
We have also seen some very high quality work across curriculum subjects. Stars of the week are:
Reception: Ayesha for the brilliant Stickman she made at home; Damanika for her Maths work on counting to 10.
Year 1: Kazim and Kimarnie-Mae both for excellent use of descriptive language in writing story endings.
Year 2: Fatima for her geography work on our local environment and Beyonce for her growing independence in class.
Year 3: Ivy for excellent work on Advent in RE; Deen for a wonderful, detailed description of a troll in English.
Year 4: Anthony for accurate maths work converting units of length; Layla for the high standard of work on poetry.
Year 5: Finlay for his fantastic performance of his poem; Mem for creating a poem using portmanteau words (words that combine the meaning of two other words eg motel or brunch).
Year 6: Isabel for being a fantastic role model in class and around school.
For our Catholic Profile we are looking at the virtues of being intentional (living out our values) and prophetic (seeing how our world can stay close to God) this half term. Children nominated this week are:
Ibrahim in Reception for his thoughtful answers across the Early Years curriculum.
Fahad in Year 5 for his help around the classroom.
Dean in Year 5 for putting away all the hockey equipment before going to get his lunch.
Nabisha in Year 4 for standing on the pavement so others could go past.
Isabella in Year 3 for letting others go first.
We've had some excellent works of art for the PTA exhibition from children, parents and a grandparent - thank you to everyone. The theme is "things you've missed during lockdown" so please do submit something if you would like to.
To support the fantastic work they do for our children, we are having a non-uniform day for the PTA next Friday 27th November. In return for a chocolate bar, your child may come to school in non-uniform. The chocolate bars will be used in hampers and for raffle prizes etc. We will send a reminder message on Thursday.
The weather has definitely been colder this week. We have to follow the COVID guidance to keep windows open (ventilation is important to prevent virus transmission) whilst at the same time not letting children get too cold. Children are welcome to bring an extra jumper/hoodie to keep in school in case they get cold but please, please, put their name on it. This is better than wearing a coat that is difficult to write in.
Once again, we are grateful to parents who have kept us updated about possible COVID cases in households. It really helps keep our families safe. We are going to send packs home to be stored safely and used if your child has to isolate so look out for those.
This Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King which is always the last Sunday of the Church's year. The following Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent. We work very hard in school to observe Advent as a time of preparation for Christmas. This year we are going to put extra lights and decorations around the school to lift the children's spirits whilst keeping the season of Advent distinct from Christmas.
Have a safe weekend
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear Parents
I hope you and your families are well. At the beginning of the week we heard from our Sikh and Hindu children about their celebrations of Diwali under lockdown regulations. It was great to hear that the festival was able to be celebrated and the hopes of the families for a much larger celebration next year when families could once again come together.
The children have had a great week working hard in school. Anti-bullying lessons have created lots of discussion and learning about how to stop ourselves bullying; how to avoid being the victim of bullying and what to if you are bullied. Some of the work is already on the website here.
We have also seen some very high quality work across curriculum subjects. Stars of the week are:
Reception: Ayesha for the brilliant Stickman she made at home; Damanika for her Maths work on counting to 10.
Year 1: Kazim and Kimarnie-Mae both for excellent use of descriptive language in writing story endings.
Year 2: Fatima for her geography work on our local environment and Beyonce for her growing independence in class.
Year 3: Ivy for excellent work on Advent in RE; Deen for a wonderful, detailed description of a troll in English.
Year 4: Anthony for accurate maths work converting units of length; Layla for the high standard of work on poetry.
Year 5: Finlay for his fantastic performance of his poem; Mem for creating a poem using portmanteau words (words that combine the meaning of two other words eg motel or brunch).
Year 6: Isabel for being a fantastic role model in class and around school.
For our Catholic Profile we are looking at the virtues of being intentional (living out our values) and prophetic (seeing how our world can stay close to God) this half term. Children nominated this week are:
Ibrahim in Reception for his thoughtful answers across the Early Years curriculum.
Fahad in Year 5 for his help around the classroom.
Dean in Year 5 for putting away all the hockey equipment before going to get his lunch.
Nabisha in Year 4 for standing on the pavement so others could go past.
Isabella in Year 3 for letting others go first.
We've had some excellent works of art for the PTA exhibition from children, parents and a grandparent - thank you to everyone. The theme is "things you've missed during lockdown" so please do submit something if you would like to.
To support the fantastic work they do for our children, we are having a non-uniform day for the PTA next Friday 27th November. In return for a chocolate bar, your child may come to school in non-uniform. The chocolate bars will be used in hampers and for raffle prizes etc. We will send a reminder message on Thursday.
The weather has definitely been colder this week. We have to follow the COVID guidance to keep windows open (ventilation is important to prevent virus transmission) whilst at the same time not letting children get too cold. Children are welcome to bring an extra jumper/hoodie to keep in school in case they get cold but please, please, put their name on it. This is better than wearing a coat that is difficult to write in.
Once again, we are grateful to parents who have kept us updated about possible COVID cases in households. It really helps keep our families safe. We are going to send packs home to be stored safely and used if your child has to isolate so look out for those.
This Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King which is always the last Sunday of the Church's year. The following Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent. We work very hard in school to observe Advent as a time of preparation for Christmas. This year we are going to put extra lights and decorations around the school to lift the children's spirits whilst keeping the season of Advent distinct from Christmas.
Have a safe weekend
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 13th November - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear All
The children have been fantastic this week in their hard work and behaviour. They are such a credit to you. On Wednesday, the observation of the silence for those who have died in wars was impeccable. There have been children producing great work across the school and as always it is difficult to single out stars of the week but the staff have chosen the following:
Reception: Zydan for maths and Liam for phonics
Year 1: Ali and Mustafa for writing; Maira and Ismail for phonics; Naira for homework
Year 2: Adiyy for Maths and Raihan for reading comprehension
Year 3: Neha for independent writing and Eli for map work in Geography
Year 4: Amnah for concentration and Aatika for inverse operations in Maths
Year 5: Affi for using her knowledge of her Maori heritage to understand Mayan culture
Year 6: Omoruyi for his excellent progress in reading
The children will have homework to do at the moment and also, I hope, will be keen to enter the PTA art exhibition on the subject of something they have missed during lockdown. I have shared with them my own pen and ink drawing of Birmingham City's football ground in the hope that they will know that they can do better than I can so if they ask for paper and drawing materials, collage, modelling material etc this weekend, that is what they are up to.
Please remember that it is odd sock day on Monday for the beginning of anti-bullying week.
God bless
Mr Gray
Dear All
The children have been fantastic this week in their hard work and behaviour. They are such a credit to you. On Wednesday, the observation of the silence for those who have died in wars was impeccable. There have been children producing great work across the school and as always it is difficult to single out stars of the week but the staff have chosen the following:
Reception: Zydan for maths and Liam for phonics
Year 1: Ali and Mustafa for writing; Maira and Ismail for phonics; Naira for homework
Year 2: Adiyy for Maths and Raihan for reading comprehension
Year 3: Neha for independent writing and Eli for map work in Geography
Year 4: Amnah for concentration and Aatika for inverse operations in Maths
Year 5: Affi for using her knowledge of her Maori heritage to understand Mayan culture
Year 6: Omoruyi for his excellent progress in reading
The children will have homework to do at the moment and also, I hope, will be keen to enter the PTA art exhibition on the subject of something they have missed during lockdown. I have shared with them my own pen and ink drawing of Birmingham City's football ground in the hope that they will know that they can do better than I can so if they ask for paper and drawing materials, collage, modelling material etc this weekend, that is what they are up to.
Please remember that it is odd sock day on Monday for the beginning of anti-bullying week.
God bless
Mr Gray
Friday 6th November - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear All
The Parent and Teacher Association (PTA) have played an increasingly important role in school over the last 10 years with many hours of organising fundraising and social events. Your response has always been fantastic and incredibly generous. Every child has benefited from the money raised. On Monday, at 1pm, they are going to meet by video call to prepare for the next events. If you would like to join the call, please email me and I'll send the details.
We have had a very good week in school. The children have worked very hard and deserve their rest this weekend. Having said that, they do all have homework to do before next Friday and I know many do like to get it done over the weekend.
The stars of the week are:
Reception: Aisha for progress across all the areas of learning; Yiannis for his hard work in Mathematics;
Year 1: Arfa for Maths work on number bonds; Ibrahim for his reading;
Year 2: Uthman for independent work; Ismaeel for his phonics knowledge when reading;
Year 3: Holly for her progress in Maths; Isabella for her work in English on homophones;
Year 4: Hamza for accurate written methods when doing subtraction in Maths; Freya for the presentation of her work across all subjects;
Year 5: Faizan and Fahad for learning by heart and reciting the Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll;
Year 6: Kayden for using his wisdom to make excellent choices;
This half term, for our Catholic School Profile, we are looking at being intentional and prophetic. This is partly about living by your values so that whether your child is Christian or Muslim or Sikh or Hindu or a humanist, they know that their behaviours should intentionally reflect this. Being prophetic is also about being close to God and holding up a mirror to society to highlight injustice. When children are seen doing things which are intentional and prophetic they are nominated by staff to receive a leaf upon which their name is written. This week the following children have been nominated: Nevaeh, Tiana, Aamna and Harry.
We wish everyone a good weekend. Please stay safe in lockdown by not mixing with other households and following the guidelines.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear All
The Parent and Teacher Association (PTA) have played an increasingly important role in school over the last 10 years with many hours of organising fundraising and social events. Your response has always been fantastic and incredibly generous. Every child has benefited from the money raised. On Monday, at 1pm, they are going to meet by video call to prepare for the next events. If you would like to join the call, please email me and I'll send the details.
We have had a very good week in school. The children have worked very hard and deserve their rest this weekend. Having said that, they do all have homework to do before next Friday and I know many do like to get it done over the weekend.
The stars of the week are:
Reception: Aisha for progress across all the areas of learning; Yiannis for his hard work in Mathematics;
Year 1: Arfa for Maths work on number bonds; Ibrahim for his reading;
Year 2: Uthman for independent work; Ismaeel for his phonics knowledge when reading;
Year 3: Holly for her progress in Maths; Isabella for her work in English on homophones;
Year 4: Hamza for accurate written methods when doing subtraction in Maths; Freya for the presentation of her work across all subjects;
Year 5: Faizan and Fahad for learning by heart and reciting the Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll;
Year 6: Kayden for using his wisdom to make excellent choices;
This half term, for our Catholic School Profile, we are looking at being intentional and prophetic. This is partly about living by your values so that whether your child is Christian or Muslim or Sikh or Hindu or a humanist, they know that their behaviours should intentionally reflect this. Being prophetic is also about being close to God and holding up a mirror to society to highlight injustice. When children are seen doing things which are intentional and prophetic they are nominated by staff to receive a leaf upon which their name is written. This week the following children have been nominated: Nevaeh, Tiana, Aamna and Harry.
We wish everyone a good weekend. Please stay safe in lockdown by not mixing with other households and following the guidelines.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Thursday 22nd October - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents,
I hope that you are all keeping well. Tomorrow is a Teacher Day with the staff receiving training through a range of workshops on RE, English, Maths, Science and Computing delivered by Bishop Challoner Catholic College. The staff will also undertake their annual training in supporting children with asthma and anaphylaxis.
Dear Parents,
I hope that you are all keeping well. Tomorrow is a Teacher Day with the staff receiving training through a range of workshops on RE, English, Maths, Science and Computing delivered by Bishop Challoner Catholic College. The staff will also undertake their annual training in supporting children with asthma and anaphylaxis.
Our Parents and Teachers' Association (PTA) held a non-uniform day on Thursday 22nd October to help raise funds and to celebrate the diversity of our wonderful school community.
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Thank you for your generous donations to the PTA on our non-uniform day. The children were wonderful and enjoyed their day. In the assembly we talked about diversity and black history. We highlighted the artists Lubaina Himid and Keith Piper and from the sciences, Dame Elizabeth Anionwu. We talk about Piper and Anionwu not only as people who are brilliant in their chosen field but also because they were brought up in Birmingham. Our curriculum should also reflect the lived experiences of your families and if there is anything you feel we are missing or anyone inspirational in your family, please let us know.
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School returns on Monday 2nd November. When the children return, we are going to attempt to provide every class with hot meals (rather than have KS2 on a rota for sandwiches) which will be an interesting challenge with limited time, social distancing and the cleaning that is involved. Click here to view the 2 weekly menus.
Stars of the week this week were:
Reception - Arthur for his confidence; Aaryan for hard work
Year 1 - Maryam and Ruqayyah for reading;
Year 2 - Maleeya for a great Autumn poem; Diya for Maths work on inverse operations
Year 3 - Lilly for Maths; Harun for being a great role model
Year 4 - Scarlett for fantastic work with Mrs Vaughan; Hanin for clear presentation in Maths; Tezzy for a story full of suspense
Year 5 - Ayaan for plotting data on a line graph; Neveah - fantastic independent writing
Year 6 - Ishmail for division work in Maths
Leaves awarded for being Curious and Active:
Khalisa - actively helping her teachers
Tabitha- asking fantastic questions about God;
Jaydam, Oskar, Hamza and Kassim - actively caring for an injured child.
Shiv - curiosity about construction.
Despite all the challenges, it has been a great half term and a privilege to see the children's progress.
As well as all the class work that will be going on after the break, we are delighted that the PTA are organising an art exhibition during November (Read letter on the right). We are really looking forward to seeing not only the children's entries but also your own and those from members of your families.
Year 6 parents- there has been an email coming from Mrs Rafferty-Jones about Secondary application so please look out for that.
If you need any support over the half term break, please do not hesitate to email to this account.
Masses in Church this weekend and next weekend are 4pm Saturday and 9.30 am Sunday.
Take care and God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Stars of the week this week were:
Reception - Arthur for his confidence; Aaryan for hard work
Year 1 - Maryam and Ruqayyah for reading;
Year 2 - Maleeya for a great Autumn poem; Diya for Maths work on inverse operations
Year 3 - Lilly for Maths; Harun for being a great role model
Year 4 - Scarlett for fantastic work with Mrs Vaughan; Hanin for clear presentation in Maths; Tezzy for a story full of suspense
Year 5 - Ayaan for plotting data on a line graph; Neveah - fantastic independent writing
Year 6 - Ishmail for division work in Maths
Leaves awarded for being Curious and Active:
Khalisa - actively helping her teachers
Tabitha- asking fantastic questions about God;
Jaydam, Oskar, Hamza and Kassim - actively caring for an injured child.
Shiv - curiosity about construction.
Despite all the challenges, it has been a great half term and a privilege to see the children's progress.
As well as all the class work that will be going on after the break, we are delighted that the PTA are organising an art exhibition during November (Read letter on the right). We are really looking forward to seeing not only the children's entries but also your own and those from members of your families.
Year 6 parents- there has been an email coming from Mrs Rafferty-Jones about Secondary application so please look out for that.
If you need any support over the half term break, please do not hesitate to email to this account.
Masses in Church this weekend and next weekend are 4pm Saturday and 9.30 am Sunday.
Take care and God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Friday 16th October - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear All
Thank you for all your support this week. Please stay alert and keep safe by minimising social contacts this weekend. We have a number of families isolating at the moment and we pray for you. The latest data I have is from 12th October when there were 32 cases in Moseley; 26 in Sparkhill; 42 in Balsall Heath and 32 in Springfield.
It is essential that if someone in your household has a test that your children do not come to school until you have the test result. As soon as you have the result, please inform us. If children come into school while someone in the household is waiting for a test result, lives are potentially being put in danger. If you are in any doubt, please keep your child off and ring me for advice.
Please also remember in Ms Harkin in your prayers as she has been very ill but not with COVID. Sadly, she has had a bloodclot on her lung. We pray that she makes a full recovery.
In school, children have continued to work very hard. The stars of the week are:
Year 6: Alia for her work on long division.
Year 5: Faizan for inferences he made about King Alfred the Great; Delilah for a well-thought out ending to an adventure story.
Year 4: Usayd for his excellent vocabulary choices when describing a character's emotions; Habiba for being a great coach to others in PE.
Year 3: Ivy for her retelling of the story of the Prodigal Son; Alveera for her excellent work in Music
Year 2: Lucas for outstanding Maths; Poppy also for outstanding Maths including accurately counting in 10s; Zak for outstanding grammar work in video lessons; Tabitha for excellent reading
Year 1: Maira for her accurate spelling; Insha for her Maths when doing part/part/whole (if you would like to know what that is an explanation can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9-5dxP_204 )
Reception: Khadijah for settling in so well; Emily for her excellent maths.
The nominations for the Catholic virtues of being active and curious go to Wol, Sami, Oskar, Isabel and Aamna.
If your child has not been chosen, be assured that they will have done some brilliant work this week. Your children never cease to impress us in their work at school. We are blessed to have them with us.
Mass at church this weekend is on Sunday at 9.30 am and tomorrow at 4pm for families. In the gospel reading at Mass, Jesus answers a trick question about whether people should pay the Romans taxes by telling the pharisees to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar but give to God what belongs to God. Our lives belong to God so, this weekend, we place ourselves in his loving hands and devote ourselves to him.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Dear All
Thank you for all your support this week. Please stay alert and keep safe by minimising social contacts this weekend. We have a number of families isolating at the moment and we pray for you. The latest data I have is from 12th October when there were 32 cases in Moseley; 26 in Sparkhill; 42 in Balsall Heath and 32 in Springfield.
It is essential that if someone in your household has a test that your children do not come to school until you have the test result. As soon as you have the result, please inform us. If children come into school while someone in the household is waiting for a test result, lives are potentially being put in danger. If you are in any doubt, please keep your child off and ring me for advice.
Please also remember in Ms Harkin in your prayers as she has been very ill but not with COVID. Sadly, she has had a bloodclot on her lung. We pray that she makes a full recovery.
In school, children have continued to work very hard. The stars of the week are:
Year 6: Alia for her work on long division.
Year 5: Faizan for inferences he made about King Alfred the Great; Delilah for a well-thought out ending to an adventure story.
Year 4: Usayd for his excellent vocabulary choices when describing a character's emotions; Habiba for being a great coach to others in PE.
Year 3: Ivy for her retelling of the story of the Prodigal Son; Alveera for her excellent work in Music
Year 2: Lucas for outstanding Maths; Poppy also for outstanding Maths including accurately counting in 10s; Zak for outstanding grammar work in video lessons; Tabitha for excellent reading
Year 1: Maira for her accurate spelling; Insha for her Maths when doing part/part/whole (if you would like to know what that is an explanation can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9-5dxP_204 )
Reception: Khadijah for settling in so well; Emily for her excellent maths.
The nominations for the Catholic virtues of being active and curious go to Wol, Sami, Oskar, Isabel and Aamna.
If your child has not been chosen, be assured that they will have done some brilliant work this week. Your children never cease to impress us in their work at school. We are blessed to have them with us.
Mass at church this weekend is on Sunday at 9.30 am and tomorrow at 4pm for families. In the gospel reading at Mass, Jesus answers a trick question about whether people should pay the Romans taxes by telling the pharisees to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar but give to God what belongs to God. Our lives belong to God so, this weekend, we place ourselves in his loving hands and devote ourselves to him.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Thursday 15th October - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
It is wonderful to have all our classes back in school. Thank you for all the work that has been going on at home, not just in Year 2 and Reception but across the school. Our children will never really appreciate the support they are given and the sacrifices you make until they are parents themselves so, in the meantime, take it from me, that you are doing a great job especially with the support you give to reading.
Please remember that if anyone in your household has a COVID test, the rest of the household should self-isolate until the test results are back. This means that children cannot come to school if someone in the household is waiting for a test result. Thank you for all the messages keeping us up-to-date with your household's situation.
The Governing Body's Staffing, Teaching and Learning Committee met online last night and discussed a wide range of agenda items including the developments in online learning as we strive to support children at home. The governors freely give of their time to do an invaluable job in holding the school to account for the education we provide for your children.
Dear Parents
It is wonderful to have all our classes back in school. Thank you for all the work that has been going on at home, not just in Year 2 and Reception but across the school. Our children will never really appreciate the support they are given and the sacrifices you make until they are parents themselves so, in the meantime, take it from me, that you are doing a great job especially with the support you give to reading.
Please remember that if anyone in your household has a COVID test, the rest of the household should self-isolate until the test results are back. This means that children cannot come to school if someone in the household is waiting for a test result. Thank you for all the messages keeping us up-to-date with your household's situation.
The Governing Body's Staffing, Teaching and Learning Committee met online last night and discussed a wide range of agenda items including the developments in online learning as we strive to support children at home. The governors freely give of their time to do an invaluable job in holding the school to account for the education we provide for your children.
Another group who work tirelessly for your children are the Parents and Teachers' Association. Attached to this email is a letter about a non-uniform day the PTA are proposing to hold next Thursday 22nd October to help raise funds and to celebrate the diversity of our wonderful school community (read letter on your right).
Next Friday 23rd October is a Teacher Day organised by Bishop Challoner. The staff will be undertaking training in a range of topics around the teaching of English, Maths, Science and Computing. In the afternoon we are having our annual training in supporting children who have asthma or anaphylaxis.
On Monday 16th November we begin our annual Anti-Bullying Week. During the week we will be listening to children about their experiences and their understanding of bullying. Crucially, children need to understand that bullying is (repeated, deliberate behaviour aimed at hurting another person) and what bullying is not (an argument between two friends) so that they can protect themselves from being bullied and avoid bullying someone else.
The media like to portray the world as being made up of a group of people labelled bullies and a group of victims whereas the reality is that we can all be guilty of bullying if we do not stop ourselves and that we can all avoid being victims if we know how to respond to bullying behaviour. The most important messages we give children are: first, always tell your parents everything that is happening. Secondly, always acknowledge the things we ourselves do wrong. Thirdly, never highlight what is different about someone else in order to put them down. On the first day of anti-bullying week, 16th November, we are taking part in the "wear odd socks to school". There are more details here https://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/anti-bullying-week/anti-bullying-week-2020-united-against-bullying.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Next Friday 23rd October is a Teacher Day organised by Bishop Challoner. The staff will be undertaking training in a range of topics around the teaching of English, Maths, Science and Computing. In the afternoon we are having our annual training in supporting children who have asthma or anaphylaxis.
On Monday 16th November we begin our annual Anti-Bullying Week. During the week we will be listening to children about their experiences and their understanding of bullying. Crucially, children need to understand that bullying is (repeated, deliberate behaviour aimed at hurting another person) and what bullying is not (an argument between two friends) so that they can protect themselves from being bullied and avoid bullying someone else.
The media like to portray the world as being made up of a group of people labelled bullies and a group of victims whereas the reality is that we can all be guilty of bullying if we do not stop ourselves and that we can all avoid being victims if we know how to respond to bullying behaviour. The most important messages we give children are: first, always tell your parents everything that is happening. Secondly, always acknowledge the things we ourselves do wrong. Thirdly, never highlight what is different about someone else in order to put them down. On the first day of anti-bullying week, 16th November, we are taking part in the "wear odd socks to school". There are more details here https://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/anti-bullying-week/anti-bullying-week-2020-united-against-bullying.
God bless
Justin Gray
Headteacher
Monday 12th October - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
I hope that everyone is keeping well and safe. We are looking forward to welcoming back Reception tomorrow and Year 2 on Thursday. Year 2's lessons will continue online until Wednesday. We would be very interested in hearing from parents about their children's experience of remote learning. As time goes on, the technology is improving along with our use of it. We pray that no other classes have to isolate but it will be important to ensure everyone can access the lessons.
Thank you to those parents who have kept us up-to-date with information about people in their family being tested. It is essential that you let us know as soon as anyone in your household develops symptoms or has a test. If you have any doubts, please do not send your child in but phone or email us. Last week there were 25 COVID cases in Moseley; 31 in Balsall Heath; 31 in Sparkhill; 20 in Springfield and 23 around Moseley Bog. Remember to look out for a high temperature, new and persistent cough or a change/loss of taste or smell.
We have assessed the children's attainment since they returned and are now looking at ways of sharing the information with you along with how we are going to help any who have fallen behind to catch up. As always, the key is reading which can unfortunately be one of the hardest battles for parents in an age of screens, playstations, etc. We are an exceptional school for teaching children how to read. We know this because no child has ever failed the national phonics screening check. The difficulty for you, and for us, is persuading children to use their reading skills to read as much as possible. We keep coming up with ways to encourage the children to read but we need parents to find time to talk about books and read to children as well as listen to them read. When we, as adults, spend so long looking at our phones rather than reading books, it is unsurprising that children prefer screens. Part of me thinks that the future is reading from screens rather than books and we should just accept it but all the research shows that if we want our children to be successful in their lives, the one thing we can do, as parents, is encourage them to read as much as possible.
Mrs Guiden and Mrs Laird are working on a plan to return to all classes being offered hot meals after half-term with new menus to go with colder weather and shorter days.
God bless
Mr Gray
Dear Parents
I hope that everyone is keeping well and safe. We are looking forward to welcoming back Reception tomorrow and Year 2 on Thursday. Year 2's lessons will continue online until Wednesday. We would be very interested in hearing from parents about their children's experience of remote learning. As time goes on, the technology is improving along with our use of it. We pray that no other classes have to isolate but it will be important to ensure everyone can access the lessons.
Thank you to those parents who have kept us up-to-date with information about people in their family being tested. It is essential that you let us know as soon as anyone in your household develops symptoms or has a test. If you have any doubts, please do not send your child in but phone or email us. Last week there were 25 COVID cases in Moseley; 31 in Balsall Heath; 31 in Sparkhill; 20 in Springfield and 23 around Moseley Bog. Remember to look out for a high temperature, new and persistent cough or a change/loss of taste or smell.
We have assessed the children's attainment since they returned and are now looking at ways of sharing the information with you along with how we are going to help any who have fallen behind to catch up. As always, the key is reading which can unfortunately be one of the hardest battles for parents in an age of screens, playstations, etc. We are an exceptional school for teaching children how to read. We know this because no child has ever failed the national phonics screening check. The difficulty for you, and for us, is persuading children to use their reading skills to read as much as possible. We keep coming up with ways to encourage the children to read but we need parents to find time to talk about books and read to children as well as listen to them read. When we, as adults, spend so long looking at our phones rather than reading books, it is unsurprising that children prefer screens. Part of me thinks that the future is reading from screens rather than books and we should just accept it but all the research shows that if we want our children to be successful in their lives, the one thing we can do, as parents, is encourage them to read as much as possible.
Mrs Guiden and Mrs Laird are working on a plan to return to all classes being offered hot meals after half-term with new menus to go with colder weather and shorter days.
God bless
Mr Gray
Friday 9th October - Message from Mr Gray:
Thank you so much for generosity in sending in food and cleaning items for the Harvest. Everything you have given will be kept for 72 hours under our COVID arrangements and then boxed up and taken to Anawim who work from the site that used to be the school next to our Church on George St, Balsall Heath. Your kindness will make a huge difference to some very vulnerable people in Birmingham.
We look forward to Reception and Year 2 returning next week on Tuesday (Reception) and Thursday (Year 2). We have a number of other people in our community who are self-isolating at the moment and we pray especially for them. Please do everything you can to keep your families safe by not mixing, washing hands frequently, keeping a 2 metre distance from other adults and wearing a mask in shops and at the school gates.
Thank you so much for generosity in sending in food and cleaning items for the Harvest. Everything you have given will be kept for 72 hours under our COVID arrangements and then boxed up and taken to Anawim who work from the site that used to be the school next to our Church on George St, Balsall Heath. Your kindness will make a huge difference to some very vulnerable people in Birmingham.
We look forward to Reception and Year 2 returning next week on Tuesday (Reception) and Thursday (Year 2). We have a number of other people in our community who are self-isolating at the moment and we pray especially for them. Please do everything you can to keep your families safe by not mixing, washing hands frequently, keeping a 2 metre distance from other adults and wearing a mask in shops and at the school gates.
Year 2's live lessons have been going well this week as we all get used to the technology. There are normally about 10 children online each day. Reception have been receiving video lessons which are on our school website each day. If you are unable to watch the videos, access the website or join in with live lessons please let us know. Also if you have any feedback, please send it to d.symons@st-martindeporres.bham.sch.uk.
A lot of homework is now online including maths. Again if your child has any trouble accessing their homework please let us know or if you have any feedback, please email it to us. Please do everything you can to find time to read to your child especially at bedtime. There is plenty of research that reading to your child makes a bigger difference to our child's education than anything else we do as parents. If you need ideas for books to read with your child, have a look at the class page on the school website.
Well done to all the children for their work this week in school.
Our stars of the week so far are Esa and Leah in Yeah 1; Destiny and Sophia in Year 4; Deen and Taimoor in Year 5.
The children who have been nominated for being curious and active are Maryam in Year 4 and Finlay in Year 5.
St John Wall House won the house points competition this week - well done to the children in that house and to all the children who earned house points.
Well done and thank you to everyone who walked to school this week. Please keep it up.
Mass at St John and St Martin's Church this weekend is on Saturday at 4pm and Sunday at 9.30 am. Everyone is welcome but if you're Catholic, please make every effort to attend.
God bless
Mr Gray
A lot of homework is now online including maths. Again if your child has any trouble accessing their homework please let us know or if you have any feedback, please email it to us. Please do everything you can to find time to read to your child especially at bedtime. There is plenty of research that reading to your child makes a bigger difference to our child's education than anything else we do as parents. If you need ideas for books to read with your child, have a look at the class page on the school website.
Well done to all the children for their work this week in school.
Our stars of the week so far are Esa and Leah in Yeah 1; Destiny and Sophia in Year 4; Deen and Taimoor in Year 5.
The children who have been nominated for being curious and active are Maryam in Year 4 and Finlay in Year 5.
St John Wall House won the house points competition this week - well done to the children in that house and to all the children who earned house points.
Well done and thank you to everyone who walked to school this week. Please keep it up.
Mass at St John and St Martin's Church this weekend is on Saturday at 4pm and Sunday at 9.30 am. Everyone is welcome but if you're Catholic, please make every effort to attend.
God bless
Mr Gray
Wednesday 7th October - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents,
I hope you are well. We have two classes and a number of families self-isolating this week and we remember all of them in our prayers. The children in school are praying the Rosary this week and will include all our absent friends in their intentions.
When a class has to go into isolation, we provide remote learning through videos as well as suggested activities that can be found on the website. To support children who do not have access to technology, we are putting together a learning pack for every child which we will send home for you to keep in case your child has to isolate. As we no longer have access to food vouchers, Mrs Guiden is providing food parcels for families in isolation who are in receipt of benefits. Although this is based on the families who received vouchers in lockdown, we will provide a parcel for any family in isolation who would benefit from one. Please contact Mrs Symons if you need any support.
Well done everyone in the classes in school who walked to school this morning. It makes a great difference to the safety of our children on the roads; to the health of the children who walk and to the quality of air around school.
Tomorrow is our harvest festival. The children will be watching an online celebration from CAFOD. All the details are here https://cafod.org.uk/News/Events/Harvest-assembly We will be collecting tins, dried food and other non-perishables at the gates before and after school. All donations are going to Anawim http://anawim.co.uk/
Over the next two weeks, Ms Hayden will be introducing children to The Birmingham School Games virtual/online personal best challenges for 2020-21. This is being run by Bishop Challoner and aims to promote engagement with exercise and fitness for all children.
The PTA will be contacting you soon with information about an art competition and a non-uniform multicultural day on Thursday 22nd October.
A reminder that Friday 23rd October is our first Teacher Day of this academic year and school will be closed. In the morning, the staff are undertaking professional development with Bishop Challoner and 9 other primary schools. In the afternoon, learning packs in case of class isolations will be prepared.
God bless
Mr Gray
Dear Parents,
I hope you are well. We have two classes and a number of families self-isolating this week and we remember all of them in our prayers. The children in school are praying the Rosary this week and will include all our absent friends in their intentions.
When a class has to go into isolation, we provide remote learning through videos as well as suggested activities that can be found on the website. To support children who do not have access to technology, we are putting together a learning pack for every child which we will send home for you to keep in case your child has to isolate. As we no longer have access to food vouchers, Mrs Guiden is providing food parcels for families in isolation who are in receipt of benefits. Although this is based on the families who received vouchers in lockdown, we will provide a parcel for any family in isolation who would benefit from one. Please contact Mrs Symons if you need any support.
Well done everyone in the classes in school who walked to school this morning. It makes a great difference to the safety of our children on the roads; to the health of the children who walk and to the quality of air around school.
Tomorrow is our harvest festival. The children will be watching an online celebration from CAFOD. All the details are here https://cafod.org.uk/News/Events/Harvest-assembly We will be collecting tins, dried food and other non-perishables at the gates before and after school. All donations are going to Anawim http://anawim.co.uk/
Over the next two weeks, Ms Hayden will be introducing children to The Birmingham School Games virtual/online personal best challenges for 2020-21. This is being run by Bishop Challoner and aims to promote engagement with exercise and fitness for all children.
The PTA will be contacting you soon with information about an art competition and a non-uniform multicultural day on Thursday 22nd October.
A reminder that Friday 23rd October is our first Teacher Day of this academic year and school will be closed. In the morning, the staff are undertaking professional development with Bishop Challoner and 9 other primary schools. In the afternoon, learning packs in case of class isolations will be prepared.
God bless
Mr Gray
Monday 5th October - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear All
After a further positive test result received today, we now have Reception and Year 2 children isolating at home. Please pray for all the children especially those who are poorly. In order to reduce risk for our families and each other, it is essential to follow the guidance New coronavirus restrictions in Birmingham – frequently asked questions | Birmingham City Council and minimise social contacts even within families.
Thank you to all the parents who have kept us informed about their children's health and the testing that is going on. Please do continue to tell us as soon as anyone in your household is poorly and if anyone has a test.
This week, for those not self-isolating, we have "Walk to School" day on Wednesday. Thank you to everyone who already walks to school - it makes the roads around school safer, our air cleaner and your children healthier. There are some families who travel long distances to come to St Martin's and we appreciate all the children being here, however for those of you who live closer, please do everything you can to walk. If you do have to drive, please park away from the school and do not park on the pavements. Even two wheels on the pavement is a danger to our children and this morning we had a near miss for one of our youngest children on a pavement. Also if we park with two wheels on a pavement, we are making social distancing more difficult and creating an obstacle for one of our neighbours who is blind. To sum up, please try to get up earlier, leave the house earlier, park further away and walk.
On Thursday the children are joining in a Harvest assembly with CAFOD. The details are here CAFOD national assembly: A harvest like no other | CAFOD
As part of the harvest thanksgiving celebration, on Thursday morning and afternoon, we will be collecting tins and dried food at the gates. These donations will be stored for 72 hours to avoid transmission of the virus before being sent on to Anawim who play such an important role supporting very vulnerable people in our community http://anawim.co.uk/
Anawim - Women Working Together
If you are able to donate, there will be large containers on the gates.
Speaking of harvest, a film was made in August all about our newly extended school gardens. The film is well worth a watch as it stars Mrs Braithwaite and gives you an idea of the scale of the gardens and how they will impact on your child's learning. Mrs Braithwaite had no idea that the company would want to interview her on film and is very articulate about her vision for the gardens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zc_pjCC26o
God bless
Mr Gray
Dear All
After a further positive test result received today, we now have Reception and Year 2 children isolating at home. Please pray for all the children especially those who are poorly. In order to reduce risk for our families and each other, it is essential to follow the guidance New coronavirus restrictions in Birmingham – frequently asked questions | Birmingham City Council and minimise social contacts even within families.
Thank you to all the parents who have kept us informed about their children's health and the testing that is going on. Please do continue to tell us as soon as anyone in your household is poorly and if anyone has a test.
This week, for those not self-isolating, we have "Walk to School" day on Wednesday. Thank you to everyone who already walks to school - it makes the roads around school safer, our air cleaner and your children healthier. There are some families who travel long distances to come to St Martin's and we appreciate all the children being here, however for those of you who live closer, please do everything you can to walk. If you do have to drive, please park away from the school and do not park on the pavements. Even two wheels on the pavement is a danger to our children and this morning we had a near miss for one of our youngest children on a pavement. Also if we park with two wheels on a pavement, we are making social distancing more difficult and creating an obstacle for one of our neighbours who is blind. To sum up, please try to get up earlier, leave the house earlier, park further away and walk.
On Thursday the children are joining in a Harvest assembly with CAFOD. The details are here CAFOD national assembly: A harvest like no other | CAFOD
As part of the harvest thanksgiving celebration, on Thursday morning and afternoon, we will be collecting tins and dried food at the gates. These donations will be stored for 72 hours to avoid transmission of the virus before being sent on to Anawim who play such an important role supporting very vulnerable people in our community http://anawim.co.uk/
Anawim - Women Working Together
If you are able to donate, there will be large containers on the gates.
Speaking of harvest, a film was made in August all about our newly extended school gardens. The film is well worth a watch as it stars Mrs Braithwaite and gives you an idea of the scale of the gardens and how they will impact on your child's learning. Mrs Braithwaite had no idea that the company would want to interview her on film and is very articulate about her vision for the gardens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zc_pjCC26o
God bless
Mr Gray
Thursday 1st October - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents,
I hope that you are well. As I mentioned on Tuesday, we do have adults in our school families with COVID so please continue to pray for them. Please also remain very cautious when out and about as the infection numbers for Moseley and Sparkhill are very worrying so we must keep our families safe through frequent handwashing, not mixing households, wearing a face mask in shops and keeping our distance from other adults.
We have 190 children in school today out of a possible 205. A few children have upset stomachs which we are hoping the increased washing of hands for COVID will help suppress.
We were alerted by one of our parents to a large open drain outside LaVelle, a shop on Woodbridge Road this morning. Please take extra care if you are walking that way with your children.
We are delighted to hear that Father Mario is saying an additional Mass at weekends particularly aimed at families. This will be on Saturdays at 4pm starting this weekend. The Sunday morning Mass is at 9.30am.
Dear Parents,
I hope that you are well. As I mentioned on Tuesday, we do have adults in our school families with COVID so please continue to pray for them. Please also remain very cautious when out and about as the infection numbers for Moseley and Sparkhill are very worrying so we must keep our families safe through frequent handwashing, not mixing households, wearing a face mask in shops and keeping our distance from other adults.
We have 190 children in school today out of a possible 205. A few children have upset stomachs which we are hoping the increased washing of hands for COVID will help suppress.
We were alerted by one of our parents to a large open drain outside LaVelle, a shop on Woodbridge Road this morning. Please take extra care if you are walking that way with your children.
We are delighted to hear that Father Mario is saying an additional Mass at weekends particularly aimed at families. This will be on Saturdays at 4pm starting this weekend. The Sunday morning Mass is at 9.30am.
The children have continued to have a great week in school. I was particularly impressed by Year 1's artwork in the style of environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy http://www.artnet.com/artists/andy-goldsworthy/. Click on the photo to view Year 1's work.
Their work creating leaf sculptures continued even when the rain came. Year 3 were also outside this week and their work in the gardens is captured on our twitter feed https://twitter.com/St_Martin_Sch
Most of the children have been learning skills relating to athletics in PE lessons and making good progress with their running, jumping and throwing.
Tomorrow sees the end of our work on the season of Creation. The topic has stimulated some excellent questions and discussions in classrooms.
From Monday, classes will be using the Rosary as a form of prayer. This very old form of meditation using beads to count prayers helps children to learn about the key events in Jesus' life.
Their work creating leaf sculptures continued even when the rain came. Year 3 were also outside this week and their work in the gardens is captured on our twitter feed https://twitter.com/St_Martin_Sch
Most of the children have been learning skills relating to athletics in PE lessons and making good progress with their running, jumping and throwing.
Tomorrow sees the end of our work on the season of Creation. The topic has stimulated some excellent questions and discussions in classrooms.
From Monday, classes will be using the Rosary as a form of prayer. This very old form of meditation using beads to count prayers helps children to learn about the key events in Jesus' life.
October is Black History Month and we will be using our time to ensure our curriculum, across all subjects, throughout the year, draws on the experiences, knowledge and expertise of a range of black, asian and mixed heritage communities. We do this by looking not just at the topics and resources used to teach in October but also reflecting on planning throughout the year to ensure children learn about people from different communities. If anyone has any family stories/experiences or resources that would enrich our curriculum, please let me know. To support us, we are drawing on the work of The Catholic Association for Racial Justice https://www.carj.org.uk/2020/09/14/workshops-on-diversity-inequality-and-racism-in-the-uk/
At the end of October, we will put a report on our work on the school website.
God bless
Mr Gray
At the end of October, we will put a report on our work on the school website.
God bless
Mr Gray
Tuesday 29th September - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear All
Thank you for all your kind messages. The end of the day seemed less congested today so thank you to everyone who parked well away from the school and walked. Tomorrow will be difficult as it is forecast to rain. Please make sure the children have coats (with names in) and still park away from the school.
We had 192 children in school today out of 205 we now have on roll which is great. We did hear of positive tests for adults in one of our families so we are praying for them and for their children who are now isolating. Each case is a reminder that we must continue to be very cautious to keep each other safe by washing hands, keeping our distance and not mixing.
We had a great day in school. Some of the highlights were: Reception doing dance with ribbons in their PE lesson; Year 1 getting to grips with the technology in the computer suite in preparation for their work on algorithms; Year 2 making and decorating clay pots; Year 3 in the gardens looking at, and giving praise for God's creation this afternoon; Year 4 learning about the Rosary in preparation for October; Year 5 learning the song "Living on a Prayer" using sign language and Year 6 playing glockenspiels tunefully.
God bless
Mr Gray
Dear All
Thank you for all your kind messages. The end of the day seemed less congested today so thank you to everyone who parked well away from the school and walked. Tomorrow will be difficult as it is forecast to rain. Please make sure the children have coats (with names in) and still park away from the school.
We had 192 children in school today out of 205 we now have on roll which is great. We did hear of positive tests for adults in one of our families so we are praying for them and for their children who are now isolating. Each case is a reminder that we must continue to be very cautious to keep each other safe by washing hands, keeping our distance and not mixing.
We had a great day in school. Some of the highlights were: Reception doing dance with ribbons in their PE lesson; Year 1 getting to grips with the technology in the computer suite in preparation for their work on algorithms; Year 2 making and decorating clay pots; Year 3 in the gardens looking at, and giving praise for God's creation this afternoon; Year 4 learning about the Rosary in preparation for October; Year 5 learning the song "Living on a Prayer" using sign language and Year 6 playing glockenspiels tunefully.
God bless
Mr Gray
Friday 11th September - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear All
At the end of a very challenging week, we can draw breath and reflect upon how brilliant your children have been. Reception began on Monday and have settled in so well you would think that they had been here for years. Mrs Llewellyn, Mrs Brewer and Ms McArdle are undertaking the baseline assessment which will be shared with parents before half-term.
All our other classes have been really focussed on their work and their behaviour has been all but impeccable. Attached to this email is the study plan for this term; please do take time to read it so you can discuss the learning with your children. The children will have received homework today for the week which is due in next Friday.
Year 3 have been very patient with technology this week as we have piloted video lessons for them during their self-isolation.
Well done to the stars of the week:
Reception - the whole class
Year 1 - Abu Bakr and Ereshva
Year 2 - Poppy
Year 3 - Ismail and Livia
Year 4 - Scarlett and Kassim
Year 5 - Ayaan and Nevaeh
Year 6 - Havana
For our Catholic Pupil Profile, we are focussing on the virtues of being curious and active this half-term. Well done to Insha (Y1), Yusuf Ahmed (Y5), Muhammad (Y6) and Subhaan (Y6) for the curiosity they have shown this week.
Good luck to: the Year 6s taking the 11+ examination this weekend; to William and Edie who are playing cricket for Moseley Ashfield CC and to you all whatever endeavours you are undertaking. Please stay safe.
Mrs Symons is delighted to have received contact forms for 84 families - thank you. Obviously these forms are crucial at anytime but particularly in the context of the coronavirus. Well done to the Reception parents who have already signed up to Squid. If you have any questions about Squid, please email Mrs Symons d.symons@st-martindeporres.bham.sch.uk
At some point over the next 2 weeks, Mr Coley is going to dig up the treacherous path from Oakland Road to the office. We will give you plenty of notice of which day he is going to do this.
Further restrictions are coming in on Tuesday from when we will not be able to visit other people's houses or mix with other households outside of school. This will also mean that we cannot share lifts with other households. With Hall Green and Springfield being the two worst affected areas in Birmingham this week, we all have a responsibility to keep safe and be very careful.
Remember if your child has a new and persistent cough, a temperature or a change to taste/smell you must get them tested even though tests are proving difficult to access. I am attaching a useful table one of my colleagues created to show the different scenarios and actions that are taken.
God bless
Mr Gray
Dear All
At the end of a very challenging week, we can draw breath and reflect upon how brilliant your children have been. Reception began on Monday and have settled in so well you would think that they had been here for years. Mrs Llewellyn, Mrs Brewer and Ms McArdle are undertaking the baseline assessment which will be shared with parents before half-term.
All our other classes have been really focussed on their work and their behaviour has been all but impeccable. Attached to this email is the study plan for this term; please do take time to read it so you can discuss the learning with your children. The children will have received homework today for the week which is due in next Friday.
Year 3 have been very patient with technology this week as we have piloted video lessons for them during their self-isolation.
Well done to the stars of the week:
Reception - the whole class
Year 1 - Abu Bakr and Ereshva
Year 2 - Poppy
Year 3 - Ismail and Livia
Year 4 - Scarlett and Kassim
Year 5 - Ayaan and Nevaeh
Year 6 - Havana
For our Catholic Pupil Profile, we are focussing on the virtues of being curious and active this half-term. Well done to Insha (Y1), Yusuf Ahmed (Y5), Muhammad (Y6) and Subhaan (Y6) for the curiosity they have shown this week.
Good luck to: the Year 6s taking the 11+ examination this weekend; to William and Edie who are playing cricket for Moseley Ashfield CC and to you all whatever endeavours you are undertaking. Please stay safe.
Mrs Symons is delighted to have received contact forms for 84 families - thank you. Obviously these forms are crucial at anytime but particularly in the context of the coronavirus. Well done to the Reception parents who have already signed up to Squid. If you have any questions about Squid, please email Mrs Symons d.symons@st-martindeporres.bham.sch.uk
At some point over the next 2 weeks, Mr Coley is going to dig up the treacherous path from Oakland Road to the office. We will give you plenty of notice of which day he is going to do this.
Further restrictions are coming in on Tuesday from when we will not be able to visit other people's houses or mix with other households outside of school. This will also mean that we cannot share lifts with other households. With Hall Green and Springfield being the two worst affected areas in Birmingham this week, we all have a responsibility to keep safe and be very careful.
Remember if your child has a new and persistent cough, a temperature or a change to taste/smell you must get them tested even though tests are proving difficult to access. I am attaching a useful table one of my colleagues created to show the different scenarios and actions that are taken.
God bless
Mr Gray
Friday 4th September - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
The children this week have been brilliant and surpassed all our hopes for them with their maturity and hard work - thank you so much for sending them.
It is an incredibly difficult task to choose stars of the week from a school full of well-behaved children focused on learning however congratulations to:
Year 1 - Lillian and Safa; Year 2 - Umar and Tye; Year 3 - the whole class; Year 4 - Jaydam and Maryam; Year 5 Wol and Aidan; Year 6 Omoruyi.
This half term we are focussing on the Catholic virtues of being curious and active. Well done to Sami (Year 5) for his curiosity about words, Harry (Year 4) for his range of questions; Ismael Khan (Year 6) for his interest in World War 2 and Zakariyah (Year 1) for the thoughtfulness of his questions.
Aamna (Year 6) kept physically active throughout the lockdown by engaging with the activities from Bishop Challoner Sports College and posted on our website by Ms Haydon. I was delighted to receive this message from Ms Haydon:
"In your next assembly could you please mention Aamna Zafar and her brilliant achievement of being the most engaged pupil across the whole of Birmingham. For 7 weeks she participated in different virtual physical activities competing against other children which was organised by Sport Birmingham and Bishop Challoner. For her efforts she was awarded a brand new tablet. We are all very proud of this achievement. "
So many of our children participate in sports outside of school and it is great to be able to start PE lessons again in school. With children coming to school in tracksuits/jogger/t-shirts/sweatshirts/trainers on their day for PE, you need to know which day that is so:
Year 1 & 2 - Monday
Year 3 & 5 - Thursday
Year 4 & 6 - Wednesday
You'll still see Reception children with PE bags because getting changed is part of their curriculum. If you have an older child who finds getting changed difficult, please support in becoming independent - including doing up laces and ties.
If your child has a birthday and you would like to send chocolates (it's very generous of you, but you don't have to) please send a sealed packet or box eg Celebrations etc. and we will hand them out carefully to reduce risk of virus transmission.
God bless
Mr Gray
Dear Parents
The children this week have been brilliant and surpassed all our hopes for them with their maturity and hard work - thank you so much for sending them.
It is an incredibly difficult task to choose stars of the week from a school full of well-behaved children focused on learning however congratulations to:
Year 1 - Lillian and Safa; Year 2 - Umar and Tye; Year 3 - the whole class; Year 4 - Jaydam and Maryam; Year 5 Wol and Aidan; Year 6 Omoruyi.
This half term we are focussing on the Catholic virtues of being curious and active. Well done to Sami (Year 5) for his curiosity about words, Harry (Year 4) for his range of questions; Ismael Khan (Year 6) for his interest in World War 2 and Zakariyah (Year 1) for the thoughtfulness of his questions.
Aamna (Year 6) kept physically active throughout the lockdown by engaging with the activities from Bishop Challoner Sports College and posted on our website by Ms Haydon. I was delighted to receive this message from Ms Haydon:
"In your next assembly could you please mention Aamna Zafar and her brilliant achievement of being the most engaged pupil across the whole of Birmingham. For 7 weeks she participated in different virtual physical activities competing against other children which was organised by Sport Birmingham and Bishop Challoner. For her efforts she was awarded a brand new tablet. We are all very proud of this achievement. "
So many of our children participate in sports outside of school and it is great to be able to start PE lessons again in school. With children coming to school in tracksuits/jogger/t-shirts/sweatshirts/trainers on their day for PE, you need to know which day that is so:
Year 1 & 2 - Monday
Year 3 & 5 - Thursday
Year 4 & 6 - Wednesday
You'll still see Reception children with PE bags because getting changed is part of their curriculum. If you have an older child who finds getting changed difficult, please support in becoming independent - including doing up laces and ties.
If your child has a birthday and you would like to send chocolates (it's very generous of you, but you don't have to) please send a sealed packet or box eg Celebrations etc. and we will hand them out carefully to reduce risk of virus transmission.
God bless
Mr Gray
Wednesday 2nd September - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
Thank you for everything you did this morning to support your children and the school. We had 95% attendance which was fantastic. The new system at the gates went very smoothly. The only hold ups were when children were carrying things in their hands which delayed sanitising and therefore please could we ask that you put everything in your child's bag - water bottles are best inside a plastic bag first in case they leak. If the children wear their bags over their shoulders, their hands are free to be sanitised on the way in without delay. The way parents moved away from gates as soon as they had handed children really helped us - thank you.
The end of the day may be chaotic today with 7 gates in operation but we will all get used to where we need to be. Read below for more details.
The children have been brilliant in class and it is so good to have them back. We will send timetables and study plans so you know which lessons are when.
At lunchtime we had a couple of glitches caused by me. It was Year 4 not Year 3 in the hall today (this matters because each class have a different number of meals prepared) along with Year 1, Year 2 and Year 6 over a staggered lunchtime. Year 3 and Year 5 had sandwiches with a choice of cheese, jam and tuna. Year 3 and Year 5 will be in the hall next week. All the menus are on the website (click here) with the hot meals today being fish, cheese pastie or jacket potatoes with tuna, beans or cheese fillings. The children also had a doughnut for pudding today.
God bless
Mr Gray
Dear Parents
Thank you for everything you did this morning to support your children and the school. We had 95% attendance which was fantastic. The new system at the gates went very smoothly. The only hold ups were when children were carrying things in their hands which delayed sanitising and therefore please could we ask that you put everything in your child's bag - water bottles are best inside a plastic bag first in case they leak. If the children wear their bags over their shoulders, their hands are free to be sanitised on the way in without delay. The way parents moved away from gates as soon as they had handed children really helped us - thank you.
The end of the day may be chaotic today with 7 gates in operation but we will all get used to where we need to be. Read below for more details.
The children have been brilliant in class and it is so good to have them back. We will send timetables and study plans so you know which lessons are when.
At lunchtime we had a couple of glitches caused by me. It was Year 4 not Year 3 in the hall today (this matters because each class have a different number of meals prepared) along with Year 1, Year 2 and Year 6 over a staggered lunchtime. Year 3 and Year 5 had sandwiches with a choice of cheese, jam and tuna. Year 3 and Year 5 will be in the hall next week. All the menus are on the website (click here) with the hot meals today being fish, cheese pastie or jacket potatoes with tuna, beans or cheese fillings. The children also had a doughnut for pudding today.
God bless
Mr Gray
Tuesday 1st September- Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
We hope you are well. If you have any doubts about your child's health tomorrow (and in the weeks ahead), it is essential to keep him or her at home.
Beginning of the day
Click here for details on how and where to drop your children off.
Staff will be on the gates and in the playground to direct your child into school. It is important that we keep socially distanced at the gates and avoid congestion so once you've handed your child over, walk back to your car or wherever you need to go. If you have any messages or questions rather than passing them on at the gate, please email me j.gray@st-martindeporres.bham.sch.uk The first thing we will do is sanitise hands so please ensure everything is in a bag and your child's hands are free.
Please wear face masks at the gate. Your child does not need to wear a face mask. If you do send a mask, you will need to send a plastic bag for them to keep it in during the day.
PE Kit
Your child will discover his/her timetable this week. On the day s/he does PE, s/he will come to school in tracksuit/jogging bottoms and trainers so that there is no need for PE bags to go back and forth.
At the end of the day
Click here for details on how and where to pick up your children.
Please arrive in plenty of time, park away from school if driving, keep socially distanced, wear a face mask and, as soon as your children are collected, move away from the gates.
God bless
Mr Gray
Dear Parents
We hope you are well. If you have any doubts about your child's health tomorrow (and in the weeks ahead), it is essential to keep him or her at home.
Beginning of the day
Click here for details on how and where to drop your children off.
Staff will be on the gates and in the playground to direct your child into school. It is important that we keep socially distanced at the gates and avoid congestion so once you've handed your child over, walk back to your car or wherever you need to go. If you have any messages or questions rather than passing them on at the gate, please email me j.gray@st-martindeporres.bham.sch.uk The first thing we will do is sanitise hands so please ensure everything is in a bag and your child's hands are free.
Please wear face masks at the gate. Your child does not need to wear a face mask. If you do send a mask, you will need to send a plastic bag for them to keep it in during the day.
PE Kit
Your child will discover his/her timetable this week. On the day s/he does PE, s/he will come to school in tracksuit/jogging bottoms and trainers so that there is no need for PE bags to go back and forth.
At the end of the day
Click here for details on how and where to pick up your children.
Please arrive in plenty of time, park away from school if driving, keep socially distanced, wear a face mask and, as soon as your children are collected, move away from the gates.
God bless
Mr Gray
Friday 28th August - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
I am writing to add further detail so you know what to expect on Wednesday 2nd September when children return to school.
Before school
If you have any doubts about your child’s health, do not send them to school. Any sense of a high temperature, persistent cough or change in taste/smell will need your family to self-isolate until tested.
Dropping off and Collecting
Click here for details on dropping off and collecting.
During the School Day
There will be no assemblies or mass in the first few weeks nor will there be after school sports clubs.
Children will be taught in rooms with the windows open and will wash their hands at least six times every day. We will make as much use as possible of the outdoors especially our new garden area and the improved key stage 2 seating area. Equipment will be sanitised between use by different classes. Additional cleaning of surfaces in classrooms and corridors will go on through the day. Playtimes and lunchtimes will be staggered.
There will be assessments of the children’s learning in the first two weeks and this will be used to plan to catch up any learning missed since March.
Playtimes
Playtimes will be staggered and equipment sanitised when used. To begin with there will be no toast in Key Stage 2 so please send in a piece of fruit.
Lunchtimes
All Reception and Key Stage 1 children will have a meal in the hall. To enable us to stagger the lunches, Key Stage 2 children will be on a rota in the hall and classrooms.
Uniform
Initially, do your best with uniform but please do not worry as we have seen the queues at the shops. Tracksuit bottoms instead of trousers are fine and plain top if your child’s jumper no longer fits. The important thing is that your child is healthy and in school.
Kind regards
Mr Gray
Dear Parents
I am writing to add further detail so you know what to expect on Wednesday 2nd September when children return to school.
Before school
If you have any doubts about your child’s health, do not send them to school. Any sense of a high temperature, persistent cough or change in taste/smell will need your family to self-isolate until tested.
Dropping off and Collecting
Click here for details on dropping off and collecting.
During the School Day
There will be no assemblies or mass in the first few weeks nor will there be after school sports clubs.
Children will be taught in rooms with the windows open and will wash their hands at least six times every day. We will make as much use as possible of the outdoors especially our new garden area and the improved key stage 2 seating area. Equipment will be sanitised between use by different classes. Additional cleaning of surfaces in classrooms and corridors will go on through the day. Playtimes and lunchtimes will be staggered.
There will be assessments of the children’s learning in the first two weeks and this will be used to plan to catch up any learning missed since March.
Playtimes
Playtimes will be staggered and equipment sanitised when used. To begin with there will be no toast in Key Stage 2 so please send in a piece of fruit.
Lunchtimes
All Reception and Key Stage 1 children will have a meal in the hall. To enable us to stagger the lunches, Key Stage 2 children will be on a rota in the hall and classrooms.
Uniform
Initially, do your best with uniform but please do not worry as we have seen the queues at the shops. Tracksuit bottoms instead of trousers are fine and plain top if your child’s jumper no longer fits. The important thing is that your child is healthy and in school.
Kind regards
Mr Gray
Friday 10th July - Message from Mr Gray:
Dear Parents
If your child is learning at home, try and keep to a routine including bedtimes and make use of the excellent materials on our website, the Oak National Academy programme https://www.thenational.academy/ and the BBC. Most of all, read with your children everyday.
Mrs Braggs, one of our governors, spoke to Father Dominic on the phone last week and he sends his best wishes and prayers to everyone.
School dates for next year:
Dear Parents
If your child is learning at home, try and keep to a routine including bedtimes and make use of the excellent materials on our website, the Oak National Academy programme https://www.thenational.academy/ and the BBC. Most of all, read with your children everyday.
Mrs Braggs, one of our governors, spoke to Father Dominic on the phone last week and he sends his best wishes and prayers to everyone.
School dates for next year:
|
Autumn Term
Autumn 1: Wed 2nd Sept - Thurs 22nd Oct Autumn 2: Monday 2nd Nov - Fri 18th Dec |
Spring Term
Spring 1: Tues 5th Jan - Fri 12th Feb Spring 2: Mon 22nd Feb - Thurs 1st April |
Summer Term
Summer 1: Mon 19th April - Fri 28th May Summer 2: Tues 8th June - Tues 20th July |
Teacher Days: 1st Sept, 23rd Oct, 4th Jan, 7th June, 21st July
