Telephone: 01295 660258
Email: head@stmarys-pri.northants-ecl.gov.uk
bursar@stmarys-pri.northants-ecl.gov.uk
Laura Concannon
Head Teacher
Aug/Sept 2022
There are still places available at the school.
June/July 2021
Pentecost Celebrations at St Marys
In preparation for Pentecost Sunday the children took part in a number of activities throughout the school.
The Christian holiday of Pentecost is a moveable feast, which is celebrated on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) from Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–31).
- Children in Reception made windmills.
- Fishermen class made doves and put together a lovely song which can be seen on our Catholic life page on our school website (see below)
- Carpenter’s used pastels to create an image representing the sending of the Holy Spirit.
- Shepherd’s class created Pentecost celebration cards.
The children all came through to the hall to contribute to a whole school piece of Artwork. Stage one is now complete and we will work on the piece over the coming weeks. For an added treat, all children received a Pentecost cake! We look forward to a time when we can share our celebrations more openly with the village and parishioners.
Apr/May 2021 News
British Science Week 2021-03-27
This year the theme for British Science Week was Innovation for the Future. This is a theme that is very current in the world of science, linking nicely to sustainability and longevity of the Earth for future generations.
To innovate is to change and adapt to make something better or give it purpose – at St Mary’s we considered the importance of innovation through a historic exploration of key inventions and how these innovated the world in which we live. We also became innovators and developed ideas for a new use for an everyday item.
Science week 2021 was a great success and enjoyed by both children and staff throughout the school. We were so impressed with the creativity and ingenuity of all children when considering innovating for the future – it’s safe to say the future is looking bright in the hands of the children of St Mary’s.
Forest School – Innovation
In Forest school we made water purifiers from old plastic bottles. We took the old bottles and layered them with natural materials (e.g. stones and leaves) to create a filter. We then poured in dirty water to see the effect out filters had. We discussed how this linked to our theme by making a use for an old bottle and filtering the water to make it more widely useable.
Feb/Mar 2021
We are here to help, please do contact that school if you feel we could help in any way.
We are open to key worker children.
We are supporting families with food parcels and home learning. As a school we are fundraising to buy Kindle Fires (Amazon and Curry’s) to support families at home. If anyone would like to donate towards the cost or purchase one please contact the school office. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Telephone: 01295 660258
Email: head@stmarys-pri.northants-ecl.gov.uk
bursar@stmarys-pri.northants-ecl.gov.uk
Laura Concannon
Head Teacher
Oct/Nov 2020
The school developments have been progressing over the holidays. We still have more redecoration, outside works including roof repairs to address over the coming year. Thank you to the village for your support especially with the staggered drop off and pick up times. We have put forward a request for zigzag lines outside the front of the school but are awaiting much needed financial support.
Exciting new developments….
We were fortunate this year to be able to have a pure foundation class and can now boast a newly refurbished classroom for 13 children.
We have this year also renamed the classes:
Reception – Farmers
Year 1 and 2- Fishermen
Year 3 and 4- Carpenters
Year 5 and 6- Shepherds
We look forward to the future when we will be able to welcome the village into our school.
Kind regards,
Laura Concannon
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School June 2020
We continue to share the children’s work weekly with a newsletter. The children have enjoyed entering many closure competitions and also have supported Helen and Douglas House with ‘send a hug cards’. If you would like to see the letter please click here.
For the VE Day celebrations the children created celebratory art work which we then sent out to Galanos House.
We are also pleased to announce that in the summer we will be replacing the windows and doors in the school. We are expecting a skip to be delivered and Mr Turner will be on site painting fences etc. over the half term. We have not confirmed if we will be opening on the 1st June, if we do then it will be for a very small number of children.
Click here for a letter to St Mary’s from the Minister of State for Schools
http://www.astonlewalls.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Letter-from-the-Minister-of-State-for-School-Standards.pdf
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School Update Feb/Mar 2020
We have a very busy start to the term with the implementation of a new reading scheme and an adaptation to how we teach reading. It has been such an exciting change and only one of many targeted to happen this year.
We recognise that reading opens the door to all learning and the more a child learns the more a child wants to find out. With this in mind we have reviewed our current phonics programme and reading scheme and made the decision to improve it!
Our aim for our school is that: ‘Every child can read’
What is RWI phonics?
Read Write Inc (RWI) is a phonics based programme which helps children learn to read whilst also developing a wide range of vocabulary and encouraging a love of stories. It was developed by Ruth Miskin and more information on this can be found at www.ruthmiskin.com.
Read write Inc is a teaching programme which means:
- Children in the early years learn to read confidently and fluently.
- Older children with reading difficulties make fast progress.
- Children with specific learning difficulties learn to read.
The hall development is going well and we are now looking into more storage space and redecoration.
We are very excited about a local artist that came to work with the children in Willow and who we have tasked to create a mural for the outside wall in the playground.
Our new music space is being well used for the private music tuition and we have also started music therapy sessions too! First Holy Communion and Confirmation preparation is well under way.
Fantastic SATS results!
Please do join us for our many celebrations.
Dec/Jan 2019/2020
We are coming to the end of a very busy term. I would like to thank everyone for supporting St Mary’s through our various fundraising events such as Mission together, Harvest and the art gallery produce to raise funds for the British Legion. The children in Year Six also entered the British Legion Christmas card competition.
Thank you also to all those who attended the Christmas Market, the PTFA raised over £700 for the school.
This week St Mary’s will be supported by the Fusion team who will be clearing the school grounds and generally tidying the front garden. Thank you once again to Mrs. Kennedy who continues to keep our reflection area and raised beds in a lovely condition.
St Mary’s warmly welcomes parishioners to our school Masses and can even promise tea and coffee before you leave. I would like to extend an invitation to all to come and watch the KS1 Nativity performance in school on Thursday 12th December at 1:15pm/6:15pm and the KS2 Reflection in the Sacred Heart Church ALW on Monday 16th December 1:15pm/6:45pm.
As you may have noticed we had builders on site in the half term, this was to start the redevelopment of the hall. We now have a designated music room for private lessons. The next phase will begin on the 20th December when the new hall floor will be fitted over the Christmas holidays.
School News August/September 2019
Another academic year has come to an end we take this opportunity to look back at all has been achieved and shared:
We welcome the village to read our inspection reports, we take great pride in our recent outstanding grade in the section 48 RE inspection, the inspectors noted that the children ‘talk readily and thoughtfully about their faith. There is genuine respect among the children and between adults and children’. Truly an outstanding achievement by all those involved.
As we bid farewell to the Year 6 leavers we also take this opportunity to share how proud of the SATS results we are; it reflects just how hard they have been working. We hope to secure a place in the top 2% in the country.
End of key Stage 2 Performance Data 2019: Writing – 94% with 50% at Greater depth Reading – 100% with 68% Greater depth Mathematics 81% with 44% Greater Depth Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar – 94% with 56% Greater Depth.
We have celebrated many lovely events:
The children’s First Holy Communion Mass on the 22nd June was a beautiful day and are thrilled to see many of the children now serving in Mass: we thank the parents, children and Fr. James for their support in encouraging the children. The final Mass of the School Year on the 24th July gave the school and the Parish the opportunity to celebrate in all God has supported us in achieving; we will always extend a warm welcome to the members of the Parish to school events in the future.
Our gratitude to all those who supported the school BBQ this year and of course to our PTFA lead Mrs Blincow. Despite the rain we managed to raise over £1000 pounds which will enable us to spend more on new and exciting resources.
We hosted a Mass of Thanksgiving and Farewell on 22nd July for our headteacher, Mrs Kirstie Yuen, who leaves the School in great shape at the end of August and will be taking up a new and exciting post in Northampton as an executive head of two Catholic schools.
Looking ahead we have a Mass for the opening of the new school year at 9.30am on Friday, 6th September in School and we extend an invitation to a Mass of Induction for the new Head teacher, Mrs Laura Concannon on Wednesday 9th October at 7pm.
Do please go to the School’s own website (address below) for more information.
Best wishes to all,
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School.
01295 660258