What s been happening? Spring 2016 Published 16th March 2016 www.st-aloysius.co.uk
SCHOOL LIFE Even though the Spring term has been a short one we have managed to pack lots of activities into our school life. Here are a few of the things we have been doing... SCHOOL LIFE Y5 SG got a new classroom Y1 visited the Open Zone Reception visited the Library Launched healthy packed lunches The Gardener and Fr. Martin visited Year 2 Healthy eating workshop PTFA Film Night Y5 Spelling Bee Jeff Brown visited Y6 Poetry day with Andy Seed Chinese New Year Internet Safety Day Stand Up to Bullying Day World Book Day Y6 visit to Cragside There is so much going on in every class and around the school. Reception class visited the Library at Hebburn Hub. They all listened to a story about a crocodile called 'Open very carefully, A book with bite!' They had a lovely time colouring pictures of crocodiles. We drew different costumes on the crocodiles, turning them into ballerinas and even policemen. Then as a special treat we all received the book we shared at the library (from the Book Trust)... be careful when you open it, watch the crocodile doesn't bite! Two teams of children from Y5 took part in a Spelling Bee competition against 25 other teams from South Tyneside. They thoroughly enjoyed being linked to the Open Zone and the other schools via webcams. The Sassy Spellers from Mrs Higgins class missed out on a place in the final by 1 point! Well done to both teams. Poet Andy Seed visited the children in the Junior School for a day of side-splitting poetry. Jeff Brown (from Look North) visited Y6 to tell them about his career in journalism. They wrote newspaper articles and Jeff judged the work. Jack Gatens (AR) won the prize for Best Writer Year 1 visited the Open Zone to improve their IT skills. They had great fun and their teachers commented at how good their mouse skills have become.
SPIRITUALITY SPRITUALITY As part of their RE lessons Year 4 have been learning about community. They have learned what makes a good community, as well as sharing memories from the communities to which they belong. They shared a beautiful liturgy with the whole school and parents that involved singing, dancing, signing and reading. Whole School Mass in Church Y4 Community Liturgy Youth Friday Mass Y2 Class Mass Y1 Liturgy Y5 Mass Reception Liturgy During Holy Week the children will be celebrating Maundy Thursday Liturgy Good Friday Liturgy 4 of our Year 6 pupils attended the Youth Friday Mass at Newcastle Cathedral. This year s theme was Outrageous Hope, a hope that dares to believe that all things are possible with God, no matter what is happening around us and enabling us to do what we believe is right, no matter what others may tell us. Year 3 shared a beautiful liturgy o n t h e t h e m e o f Journeys. During their RE lessons they have been thinking ab out journeys through time. The reading, dancing, singing and rapping were all fantastic.
SPORT During the Spring Term lots of our teams have been in competition. SPORT Sports Hall Athletics Finals Hoops 4 Health Basketball finals Girls Match Day 2 Boys Bishop s Cup Football Y3 Swimming Y5 Swimming Hockey Finals Gymnastics after school club Afterschool team games club After school football club 22 children from Y4-6 competed at Temple Park Leisure Centre at the Tyne and Wear County Sportshall Athletics Finals. Having qualified to represent South Tyneside when winning the previous round the children competed fiercely against pupils from across the county. At the end of the event, when the scores of the pupils within each team were totalled, our Team were announced as Runners-Up. Gosforth Central Middle School (runners up in 2013,2014 & 2015) were crowned champions. Hours after returning from their residential trip to Borrowdale, the basketball team were in action at the Hoops 4 Health Finals at Sports Central Newcastle. They played really well, and the action was end to end with opportunities for both teams. However, in the final 2 seconds of the game our opponents scored. In February the girls football teams took part in their 2nd league match day. The A team played 3 matches, won 1 and lost 2. The B team played 2 and won 2. All the girls showed excellent sportsmanship and played exceptionally well in very cold conditions. There are 2 more match days before the girls will find out who has won the league. Well done girls! The boys A team have qualified for the next round of the Bishops Cup. In January Y5 finished their 9 week block of swimming sessions. All children in Y3 are now attending swimming lessons on Friday afternoons.
COMMUNITY This term the children have been getting involved with many community initiatives. The school participate in the Walk to School initiative. Our school council have been working with Victoria from COMMUNITY Family Learning Clean for the Queen Disability Awareness Week Walk to School Sport Relief Mile The parents and carers from our Reception classes have been taking part in some Family Learning courses. They have been helping their children through fun activities and music, predominately aimed at the teaching of phonics. L i v i n g S t r e e t s s i n c e Christmas. They held a design a banner competition and 2 winners were picked from all the entries. Their designs have now been made into banners which are displayed around our school. At the beginning of March our whole school took part in Disability Awareness Week. The week started with an assembly from the charity Smile for Life. Then during the week each year group took part in lessons designed to raise our children s awareness of other d i s a b i l i t i e s, b u i l d i n g empathy, not sympathy. Our year 5 pupils took part in a series of workshops with SMILE through Sport. Rachel who came to work with them brought along her husb and s Paralympic Medals for the children to see. As part of her 90th birthday celebrations the Queen encouraged schools and community groups to clean up their local area in an initiative called Clean for the Queen. Our school council took their pickers and bags to the Newtown to clean up the rubbish. They even made the headlines in the Gazette.
RESIDENTIALS In February 47 Year 5 children visited Borrowdale in The Lake District for a 3 day residential exploring the great outdoors. They took part in canoeing, ghyll scrambling, hill walking, rock climbing. RESIDENTIALS Feb 2016 Y5 Borrowdale Residential Visits still to come in 2016 June 2016 Y6 Coniston The funniest part of Borrowdale was when we went ghyll scrambling. I liked how everyone worked together to make their way to the end. I also loved the mountain walk as we got a perfect view of Keswick and Derwentwater. Getting down the hill was fun and much quicker, as we took a huge shortcut! Alfie When I went to Borrowdale it was my very first experience of canoeing and I loved it. It was so much fun; we played a game called mars bar, minstrel and snickers. When your chocolate was called you had to swap boats! Tom My favourite part of Borrowdale was going up the mountain to Castle Crag. It took a while to get to the top, but it was worth it as the view was amazing. Joel
CREATIVE ARTS The children of St Aloysius enjoy a wide ranging Creative Arts Curriculum. CREATIVE ARTS Sewing and Knitting Club Music Festival Y2 & Y4 Skipping Choir Following on from their skipping day in November, 27 children from Y4 took part in a skipping festival at St Joseph s Catholic Academy. This involved some individual skills, pair work, team skipping and a whole team skip dance. Each skip scored the team a point. After a fantastic morning displaying their fantastic skipping skills our team won several individual and team awards. At the end of the competition our team were crowned overall winners. After the event they showed the rest of the school their skip dance on the yard. Our Y5 Choir have been working alongside the choristers from Durham Cathedral and on 9th March they joined 7 other schools for an afternoon of song under the great window of the Cathedral. It was a fantastic concert and the children sang beautifully. The Year 4 choir went to the South Tyneside School s Music Festival. They had reworded the song Bills to tell the story of Jack and the Beanstalk as their individual song. They then joined the choirs of another 5 schools to perform Mr Richardson s musical The Giants in the Clouds ; which is the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. Fabulous singing all round! There was a crime but Year 2 helped solve it. 32 children from Year 2 represented our school at the annual music festival and were amazing. Our judge ruled over the events and Jack and Jill fell down the hill but all was well. 3 blind mice became part of the jury and the whole event was supported by a fantastic cast of singers from our school. The children were wonderful and the audience enjoyed the opportunity of seeing our young children represent their school with confidence and enthusiasm. Year 2 ended the show by singing 'Land of Make Believe' and showed how they are all super heroes.
A final word from Mr Conway, Headteacher: It has been a very busy but rewarding couple of months. Our schools continue to thrive and improve. I am really proud of all we have been able to achieve. St Aloysius is a fantastic community and we should be very pleased with our many achievements. A highly successful three day residential took place for Year 5 (Borrowdale, the Lake District), I attended it and thoroughly enjoyed it. We have a very strong local reputation for the excellence of our choir.. The continued development of our Secret garden is providing our children with a highly stimulating outdoor learning environment. Overall, I m really pleased with the range of exciting opportunities we offer our children. ST ALOYSIUS SCHOOLS Argyle Street, Hebburn 01914832274 www.st-aloysius.co.uk