This Term’s Virtues
This term we are trying hard to be
Faith Filled and Hopeful.
From Our Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
This time of year is often one of both reflection and looking towards the future. Looking back on the past year, it has been another year of change and uncertainty but the children have demonstrated resilience and adapted well to home learning in January and then the return to school in March with further measures in place. I am also very grateful to parents who supported both their children and the school during this time.
It is also a time of sadness as we bid farewell to our Year 6 children and leavers in other year groups and we wish them all the very best of luck in their new schools. Fr. Benedict will be celebrating a Leavers Mass for the Year 6 Class in school on Wednesday and Year 6 parents joined us for their leavers’ assembly on the back playground on Tuesday. Thank you, Miss Joyce, Mrs. Pawlak, Mrs. Spragg and Mrs. Black for their hard work on this production.
Looking ahead to next academic year, children met their new teachers last Thursday and visited their new classrooms in preparation for September and there was a real sense of excitement as I went to visit each class.
We look forward to welcoming the children back to school on Monday 6th September, at 8.30am for children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 and 8.45am for children in Years 1 and 2. More information will follow before the start of term in September.
I wish you all a restful and happy holiday and safe journeys to any of our families who will be travelling this Summer.
Kind Regards, Hannah Duncan (Acting Headteacher)
PTA News
Pre-Loved Uniform Sale – thank you to parents who attended and bought uniform on Tuesday. We raised a whopping £326 towards the school laptop fund. There is still plenty of uniform left and we are planning another sale in early September.
Classlist – due to administrative issues, the school PTA have decided to stop using Classlist as a communications tool for parents. They have now set up a new Facebook page and would encourage parents to join at St Aloysius Primary School PTA.
We now have a Twitter presence! Fly on over and have a look … 
Breakfast and After School Club
From September, Breakfast Club will be open every morning from 7.45am until start of school. Booking is essential and should be made online or via the school office. This is important to ensure the right staffing, bubble planning, etc.
After School Club will continue to run Monday to Friday until 5.00pm. Again, booking is essential to ensure correct staffing, bubble planning, etc.
We look forward to welcoming all our Breakfast Club and After School Club children in September. If so, please email Jo on the school office email address.
Thank you for supporting After School and Breakfast Clubs!
School Meals
Please click HERE to see the September lunch menu.
If you wish the school to provide a lunch for your child (all year groups with the exception of Acorn Nursery Class).
In September, meals will continue being served in the form of a packed lunch delivered to your child’s classroom.
School meals should be paid for 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.
This Term’s House Point Totals
Ashmolean
Bodleian
Radcliffe
Sheldonian
Sheldonian are the Summer Term House Point winners!
Prayer
We thank you Lord, for this term. For our challenges, our successes, and the mistakes from which we have learnt. Be with us as we spend our time with family and friends. Give us strength and courage to do what is right: to be witnesses of our faith. Help us to be a practical Christian these holidays, to appreciate what others do for us, to give time and effort to help others. To be peacemakers in our family. Keep us safe in our activities; give us good rest and good fun. Bring us back refreshed and ready for a new term. We thank you for our classmates, teachers, parents and a community that cares for us. May we always be conscious of you in our lives. Amen.
Dates For Your Diary
Summer Term
Summer Term Ends – Thursday 22nd July (1.00pm)
Autumn Term Starts – Monday 6th September 2021
Some Future Dates
October Half Term Holiday – Monday 25th to 29th October 2021
Autumn Term Ends – Friday 17th December (1.00pm)
Governor News
Parents have elected two parent governors for September 2021. The parents with the most votes were Niamh Power (parent of Callum Heath – Year 2) and James McCullagh (parent of George – Year 3 and Giles – Reception).
Catherine Rolfe recently resigned as the Chair of Governors after many years. We would like to thank Catherine for all her hard work on behalf of the school and governors. A new Chair of Governors has been elected and we would like welcome Pauline Broadway as the new Chair.
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
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/
General 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.
Admissions – we have places available for all children across all year groups!
Swimming – Swimming lessons will be restarting in September 2021 for both Year 4 and Year 5 classes. More information to follow in September.
Payments to The School Office – PLEASE NOTE we can no longer accept 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.
Term Dates for 2022-2023 – the calendar is available now under INFORMATION.
CLASS NEWS
Acorn Nursery Class
It has been a busy few weeks in Acorns as we unbelievably find ourselves at the end of the school year! The children greatly enjoyed investigating space and amazed me with their knowledge and thirst to learn more. We have come back down to Earth over the last couple of weeks as we approach the holidays to explore the seaside, what is under the sea and then end the term as pirates! Once again, the children have shown an impressive knowledge of sea creatures and we have been building on this, learning about sea turtles, octopuses, sharks and many more! They have shown their wonderful creative talents, making beautiful fish, jellyfish and other sea creatures to decorate the classroom and we have shared lots of stories and songs around our topic; in particular Rainbow Fish, with its important message of how to share and show kindness to others.
The children have been practising all the letter sounds they have learned this year, using their knowledge to play games both during group times as well as in provision. We have also been blending and segmenting CVC words and continuing to bring rhyme and alliteration into play as they form a vital foundation for early writing skills. In Maths, we have been deepening our understanding of shape and how to describe the characteristics of different shapes, bringing this into play with some amazing constructions from both the larger building blocks we have in class as well as the smaller ones.
It has been a fantastic year in nursery despite all that has happened in the wider world. I wish you all a wonderful summer and I hope the children will carry with them all that we have learned, happy memories and friendships as they move up to Tiggers, start their next chapter at other schools or look forward to another year in Acorns!
Tigger Reception Class
The Tiggers have had a fantastic couple of weeks. Last week we had a World War II week! We had a special visitor come in, a real soldier! The children learned so much about life in the war and asked some good questions. We evacuated to the country last Wednesday and we learned about first aid in the war and how to look after each other. Then the war finished and we had a 1940s party to celebrate! We have also had a magic week, where we created our own potions and spells and learned lots of new vocabulary. In Maths we have been learning how to solve different problems using the calculations we have learned, for example adding and doubling.
We have had a fantastic year in Tiggers and they have all been so resilient with the changes. We hope they all have a lovely summer and wish them all the best for year 1!
Mrs Hendry and Mrs Feller
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Fir Year 1 Class
The class have enjoyed the eBook Doris the Loris – learning about all the animals in the rainforest. They worked on maths linked to the number of animals, reinforcing number bond work. They have discussed the detail and characters of the book together. The room now has a display of their collage and clay creations. Just like Doris, they have written stories on leaves (paper ones) and individuals read them out to the whole class, who then celebrated the great ideas and words.
In Maths, the class have been exploring aspects of the ‘time curriculum’, which included words and activities associated with different times of the day, calendars and dates and finally analogue clock times.
In RE, we enjoyed different stories about St. Peter (walking on water and catching a lot of fish with guidance from Jesus) and St. Paul’s Conversion.
In PE, they have moved from throwing and catching to quick change of movement, target throws at hoops with bean bags as a relay race and the importance of warm up and cool down activities.
Mrs Brookes has thoroughly enjoyed her time with Fir Class children especially going on their outdoor learning expeditions.
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Fig Year 2 Class
Over the last couple of weeks, Fig Class has been full of the sound of sawing, drilling and wood being sanded as we begin to build cars, boats, pull along animals on wheels and many other exciting things that the children had, in previously weeks, planned and designed. Last week, the children learned how to make a strong frame with reinforced corners that would support the structures they were going to build. They understood the importance of accurate measurements, cutting wood straight, and sanding down rough edges to make right angled corners. Everybody has become an expert at safely using a saw, a glue gun, a work bench to clamp their wood and sandpaper and some have learned how to use a drill. As they build their structures, the children have been thinking about what has worked well, both with the design and their skills with the equipment, and how they could make improvements. In maths, we have been using arrays to help us understand number families linked to multiplication and division for example 5 X 4 =20, 4 X 5=20, 20 ÷ 5= 4, 20 ÷ 4= 5. We have also used known multiplication and division facts to support mental maths and problem-solving activities. In our history lesson about household objects and toys from the past, the children looked at a variety of artefacts and try to think about what each item was, how it worked or what it was used for and when it might have been made. They were surprised that most of the items we looked at had been made within the last 40 years and were shocked with the changes in items linked to information and communication technology, especially the rapid changes in mobile telephones. Nobody recognised a floppy disc and the children could not believe how little information could be saved on it. The children are becoming great history investigators using their understanding about the development of materials such as Bakelite in 1907 to modern day plastics, the change in power sources including electricity, gas, batteries and renewable energies and their knowledge of what they see around them today. We have been thinking about how our homes might look in the future and I feel we have some budding inventors in Fig Class.
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Oak Year 3 Class
Oak Class artists have excelled themselves this term! From Roman Mosaics to Super Dads to Pop-up Colosseums, they have demonstrated their creativity and skills. This week we have started our final Art topic for this year, a working Aqueduct.
In Science this week we have been having fun investigating magnets and magnetic forces. In our Scrapyard Challenge, we created our own scrapyard of different materials and used magnets to sort magnetic and non-magnetic materials.
A very productive week. Well done Oak Class!
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Ash Year 4 Class
What a year we have had. It only feels like yesterday that Ash Class were beginning their time in Year 4 and now they are moving up to Year 5! They have worked so incredibly hard and each and every one of them can be extremely proud of what they have achieved. In terms of learning in school, we have looked at character description, particularly with the character Puck and his mischievous nature. They also looked at including fronted adverbials to change sentence lengths as well as conjunctions. In Maths, the class have been focusing on coordinates and understood the importance of which coordinate comes first when writing these. In Art, I showed them how to use a brush effectively and techniques to give an even distribution and smoother finish. After a couple of attempts, their artwork looks great, and they came up with some original ideas. Lastly, in PE, we have been improving our cricket skills: especially with throwing and batting stance. I really wish Ash Class (or should I say Bay) the best of luck moving forward, and I know Mrs Montes and Miss Selway are extremely lucky to inherit such a wonderful class.
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Bay Year 5 Class
In Maths, the children are looking at measurement, converting different units and finding volume. In English, the children enjoyed writing letters to an MP persuading them to help our Oceans. The children continue to show great interest in reading our class book ‘Song of a Dolphin Boy’, making great links to our topic on pollution in our Oceans. In Science, the children have enjoyed learning about reversible and irreversible changes, exploring and carrying out practical investigations in groups. In RE, the children are looking at Marriage and Holy Orders, exploring the importance of these Sacraments and understanding that everyone has a part to play in the life of the church. The class showed great enthusiasm in designing and creating turtles in DT using wool and lollipop sticks. Bay Class wishes everyone a happy and healthy summer holidays and look forward to everyone returning in September.
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.
Willow Year 6 Class
The past couple of weeks in Willow Class has been exciting as we embraced the children’s interest in the Titanic and started a mini project! We have focussed on creating a character based on our historical knowledge of real passengers on board the Titanic, we have written diary entries as that character and imagined we were survivors of the tragedy. As part of our unit, children have created boarding passes as their passenger, Excel spread sheets showing the times of lifeboat launches and number of passengers (using Excel formulas), comparable bar charts showing the number of passengers and the number of survivors, perspective sketches of the Titanic and also a selection of diary entries. Below you can see some examples of our porthole artwork imagining we were looking into the great ship. Clodagh has drawn a first-class bedroom; Felix has drawn a first-class suite lounge and Sofia has drawn an example of the first-class reading parlour. We also worked hard preparing for our leaver’s assembly which we recently performed to the parents in the playground.
Click here for this term’s Topic Overview and Knowledge Organiser.