This Term’s Virtues
This term we are trying hard to be
Intentional and Prophetic.
And Finally …
From Our Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
Thank you so much for all the messages, cards and presents I have received during this past week. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work at St. Aloysius’ Catholic Primary School for the past 11 years and this little patch of North Oxford will always hold a special place in my heart. The support I have received from staff, governors and parents over the years has been amazing. I am also truly grateful to the Fathers of The Oratory for their constant and continuing support for the school. They help us provide a rich ‘Catholic Life’ for the children and I know they keep the School Community in their prayers. I hope that 2021 will offer the opportunity for all schools to get back to a more ‘normal’ service. Have a lovely peaceful Christmas.
Kind Regards, Tom Walker (Headteacher)
Dates For Your Diary – 2020
Autumn Term
Autumn Term Ends – Friday 18th December (1.00pm)
INSET Day – Monday 4th January 2021
Spring Term Starts – Tuesday 5th January
Some Future Dates
February Half Term Holiday – Monday 15th to 19th February
Spring Term Ends – Thursday 31st March (1.00pm)
KS1 & 2 2021 SATs – click here for more information
IS YOUR CHILD 3 OR 4 YEARS OLD?
Was your child born between 1st September 2016 and 31st August 2017? If so, you need to apply for a primary school place NOW! Apply online at Oxfordshire County Council Admissions here. THE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS 15TH JANUARY 2021. For more information, please see the links below.
Oxfordshire County Council Poster click here
Applying for a school place in Reception for September 2021 information click here
Christmas Nativity Plays
Parents have been sent links to the various class recordings of children’s Nativity plays via Schoolcomms. If you did not receive the link, please email the school office and we will send it to you. This Christmas we are remembering those in need of support in our own community and are raising money for the Oxford Gatehouse as sadly, due to Coronavirus restrictions, we have been unable to make soup for them. If you wish to donate, please use the following link for further information CLICK HERE
Breakfast and After School Club
Sadly we are still unable to re-open Breakfast Club due to timings, staffing restrictions, etc.
Thank you to the parents who have continued to support our After School Club. The numbers are still quite low. We will continue to run ASC in January as we have done through the Autumn Term. If the numbers increase, we will be able to extend the hours and days.
Please keep spreading the word that the ASC is up and running and hopefully numbers / demand will increase. Thank you.
Other News
Walk with Me Advent and Christmas Calendar 2020 – please click here to see the calendar.
German Saturday School, North Oxford – please click here for further information.
Class Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser – these can now be found under the CLASSES tab where you can easily click on your child’s class. Acorn Class Curriculum Information can also be found there.
Residential Visits – We are still waiting for dates next Spring to reschedule our residential visits… Hopefully, we will hear something soon.
Swimming – The earliest we will be able to restart swimming lessons will be January 2021.
Payments to The School Office – PLEASE NOTE we are no longer accepting cash or cheques as payment and have moved to a CASHLESS system. All payments should be made via the Schoolgateway (click here for further information). Permission slips can be either emailed or bought into school with your child and handed to the school office.
This Term’s House Point Totals
Ashmolean
Bodleian
Radcliffe
Sheldonian
Sheldonian are the Autumn Term House Point winners!
Prayer
Lord God, our light and our salvation, we praise you for your gifts of life and faith. We thank you for the desire that you have planted in our hearts, our yearning to see your face. Help us to meet you in prayer, to walk in your ways, and to speak to others of our joy and consolation in your presence. Give us faithfulness in this present life so that we may come to know and praise your beauty, with all our brothers and sisters, in the life to come. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
CORONAVIRUS ADVICE
If you are visiting our school site, please always wear a facemask, follow the one-way-system and observe social distancing. HANDS – FACE – SPACE.
There is continuing coverage in the media about the ongoing Covid-19 situation around the World. At school we are continuing to receive daily updates from Oxfordshire County Council, Public Health England and the DfE.
A copy of our full opening letter can be found here
Covid-19 Tier 2 High Alert Information
Covid-19 Tier 2 High Alert Information can be found here
Updated Guidance for Parents and Carers
What parents and carers need to know about early years providers, schools and colleges in the autumn term can be found here
Department for Education Coronavirus Helpline
Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus
Latest Department for Education information:
https://twitter.com/educationgovuk
https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk/
School Meals
Please click here to see the current lunch menu.
As usual, school meals must be paid for in advance preferably by term. The cost of a school meal is £2.40 per day. As we are no longer able to accept cash or cheques, all payments must be made via the Schoolgateway (for more information please follow this link). If you had an outstanding balance owing (or credit) from last term it will be carried forward. You can also check your child’s balance and make payments via the Schoolgateway app.
Please note, if you want your child to have a school meal and you do not have any credit in your account, you will receive a telephone call from the office asking you to provide a packed lunch for your child.
If you have any queries regarding school dinner money or require a statement, please email Mrs. McIntyre admin.3842@st-aloysius.oxon.sch.uk .
CLASS NEWS
Acorn Nursery Class
It has been a very busy few weeks in Acorn Class as we prepared for our Nativity play with daily singing practice! The children did an absolutely fantastic job and not only did they learn the songs and actions but some were also given lines to say which they delivered so well and I was proud of them all!
We have been learning about Advent and preparing for Christmas, role playing a post office with The Jolly Postman as a focus book as well as a Christmas shop. We have now met all the numbers up to 10 in Ten Town and so will be recapping and strengthening this knowledge in the New Year in smaller groups. We are continuing with our sound of the week ‘t’ this week having already looked at ‘m’, ’a’, ‘s’ and ‘d’ and have been exploring rhyme and alliteration through stories, games and songs.
Acorns have really excelled themselves this term in what they have achieved and I hope they all enjoy a well-earned holiday whatever they are doing! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Tigger Reception Class
Well, I cannot believe we have come to the end of our first full term in Tigger Class! Over the last few weeks, we have had much excitement in the run up to Christmas. We have worked hard to remember that we are still in the time of Advent and have been using our Advent wreath as a symbol to remind us of how long we have left until Christmas Day. We have made some Advent promises and put them in our prayer corner.
We have been using our writing skills, writing to Father Christmas to let him know what we would like to have for Christmas. We have also recalled and written some of the Christmas story. We practised our Christmas carols and sent them home to our parents to view on Tapestry. Our classroom has been filled with lots of Christmas activities, our own stable to act out the nativity and a Father Christmas workshop to wrap, weigh and label presents. There have been lists to write and lots of Christmas Elf dressing up. We have made and decorated salt dough decorations for our trees at home, made some penguins and paper decorations for our tree here in the classroom and constructed lots of paper chains. We have created our very own snowy scene to play with the little people and snowy animals. In addition to all this, we have even made Christmas cards for our families featuring snow men.
During the past few weeks, we have reviewed and practised the sounds that we have learnt so far this term. In Maths, we have been looking at four sided shapes and learning their properties. We have also been looking more closely at sequencing. The children have continued to practise our counting forwards and backwards, to build on our work on one more and one less.
We have said our final farewell to Mr. Walker and will miss his visits to read us stories.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Fir Year 1 Class
In Fir Class the children have continued to work hard right to the end of term! They have created some lovely pieces of writing and have learnt 5 new sounds during the last 2 weeks! In RE, they have written Advent prayers and thought about what things we can do to prepare for Christmas. In Maths, we have continued to go over adding and subtracting and on Fridays they have also done some work on shape and simple fractions.
The children have also had fun doing various pieces of Christmas artwork, they have made and then glittered salt dough decorations, created stain glass windows, made door hangers and painted cards.
In Fir Class we had fun learning Away in a Manger (see the pictures below), I hope you all enjoy watching it. I would like to wish you all a Happy Christmas and hope you have a restful break.
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Fig Year 2 Class
It has been an incredibly full and exciting term in Fig Class. As we reach the end of this busy term, we want to share how thankful we are for all your ongoing commitment to the school and your children’s education. The children in Fig Class are glowing with confidence, always ready to learn and have positive attitudes towards their learning. It has been a great pleasure observing the tremendous progress by all children since September in their reading, maths, writing and joined handwriting. As always, we were proud of all the children who rehearsed, sang and performed with confidence and pride in our class Nativity song ‘No room at the Inn’. We are very fortunate to have such a creative bunch of Fig Class artists who produced nativity lanterns and a beautiful collaborative masterpiece of Bethlehem, where each child designed an inn using pastels (see image below). As scientists, we have been making predictions and planned an investigation about which papers are the most absorbent by choosing a method and working in a group. Following this, children had lots of fun engaging in another investigation working in small groups to design and make a paper bridge to hold a toy car. Some fabulous creations were made, and children had to explain their selections and predictions for the success of their bridges. We have now come to the end of our dragon topic which was a huge success. Lots of creative writing emerged from them writing their own dragon stories, instructions about how to capture a dragon and dragon poetry. It was delightful to see children bringing and sharing their dragon toys and creations made from home with the rest of the class throughout our topic. We wish you all Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to all pupils. Have a great rest over the festive period, you have certainly all earnt it! We look forward to seeing you all again in January.
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Oak Year 3 Class
The year 2020 draws to a close and the Titanic has finally sunk in Oak Class. The children have greatly enjoyed exploring this topic and have researched the events surrounding the ships creation and tragic demise. We have created a fantastic display of Titanic cabins depicting the luxury of first class suites to the uniform simplicity of the second and third class cabins. These were created from shoe boxes using personally designed wallpaper and furniture constructed from lollipop sticks or cardboard. You can view our hard work on the YouTube link below. I think you will agree they are quite an achievement.
The children have also written some wonderful imaginative stories based upon the story of the Polar Express. This has led our discussions towards exploring the changing habitat of the Artic and its native wildlife. The children never cease to amaze me with their thirst for new facts and ability to explore environmental issues .Our number work has focussed on multiplication and division using the 3, 4, 6, and 8 times table facts. We have also spent time creating Christmas cards and crafts but also exploring the work of CAFOD and UNICEF in ensuring that Christmas is a time that shares God’s love with those in the community who are most in need. We have used the Beatitudes to form a basis for our discussion of “What it means to demonstrate God’s love and values to others in our Community”.
We wish you all a Merry and restful Christmas. We are looking forward to exploring the Rainforest and reading Where the Journey Runs to the Sea by Eva Ibbotson next term… and having Miss Selway as part of our teaching team. Mrs. Lavety
In RE, we have been focussing on the unit about Advent and how we can prepare for Jesus’ coming. We enjoyed learning about the Jesse Tree and creating one in the classroom, writing Advent acrostic prayers and listening to and acting out the stories of The Annunciation and The Visitation. We also learned about St. Francis and the first crib and as a class created a crib set (a little different to St Francis’ original one)! Hopefully, you have spotted our stained-glass window as you walk past the classroom too, showing the story of The Annunciation.
In Science, we have finished our unit on rocks and soils, which we found rather interesting and I hope that the children have been sharing their knowledge at home. We then reflected on all of the Science learning we have done this term in Year 3.
Oak Class, I am so proud of you all and the learners that you have become over the past year and a half and I have loved being your teacher. I look forward to still popping in to see the fantastic learning that you are doing. Keep up the good work! I hope you and your families have a happy and restful Christmas break. Miss Duncan.
YouTube link https://youtu.be/1O_jUpLSz0k
Model of the Titanic made from miniature Lego by Harry.
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Ash Year 4 Class
The children have really been getting into the Christmas spirit recently. We have made some Christmas cards (expect yours soon) using chalk, black card and templates to create Christmas lights. The results look very effective and will compliment your mantlepiece at home. The children have also looked at the Jesse tree, understood its roots (no pun intended) and why we use it during Advent. In Maths, we have now finished our unit on measurement. They have understood how to find the perimeter of a shape but need to have a further focus on converting units of measurement. The class need to work on mm, cm, m and km so if you feel like doing some magical maths over Christmas, please take a look at what the children have already done. I want to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and I do hope that you can enjoy it as best you can in the current climate. See you all in the New Year.
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Bay Year 5 Class
The children have shown great creativity and engagement this term. In Maths, we have been exploring measurement, where the children have been estimating, measuring, and finding the perimeter and area of different 2D shapes. In RE, we have been looking at the meaning of Advent, exploring the story of John the Baptist and reflecting on the significance of his message. The children enjoyed using clay in Art and Design, to create a sculpture or object linking to our topic on Ancient Greece. Also, the children enjoyed rehearsing and recording the Christmas video learning and singing two songs, as well as creating a mosaic style piece of artwork to symbolise their part of the story. Our topic after Christmas will be based on natural disasters, looking at key features and how they impact people and the environment. Bay Class wish you all a Happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you back in the New Year.
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Willow Year 6 Class
This week in Willow Class we have been discussing the true meaning of Advent. Every day, during our class worship, we open a pocket on our Advent calendar, inside there is a chocolate, a suggested bible reading on a bauble to hang on our Jesse Tree and an Advent challenge set by another member of the class. The children have really enjoyed opening each door and gaining a deeper understanding of the Jesse Tree, they have embraced their advent challenges and as part of this the class chose a selection of Christmas gifts to send in a shoe box to Samaritan’s Purse – Operation Christmas Child with the hope of making someone else’s Christmas extra special! We have read the Parable of The Ten Bridesmaids and the children scripted their own advent scenarios for a class production about the real meaning of advent. You can view the video on our school YouTube HERE. Finally, in Literacy, we have concluded our topic learning about rainforests by researching unsustainable palm oil production – in response to this learning, the children have decided to write letters to a selection of companies that use palm oil as well as the Prime Minister and the Queen requesting that they consider changing the laws around palm oil production. The letters were hand posted by the children and we are keeping our fingers crossed for some positive responses!
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.