This Term’s Virtues
This term we are trying hard to be
Intentional & Prophetic
From Our Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
It has been lovely to welcome parents in to the school this term for work sharing afternoons, open mornings for parents in the Early Years and our Year 2, 3 and 4 production. We had some lovely feedback from the work sharing afternoons and this is something that we plan to offer again in the Summer Term. Teachers are looking forward to meeting you individually after the Easter holiday to discuss your child’s progress. Please make sure that you have signed up for an appointment via SchoolCloud.
Pupils in Fig, Oak and Ash shone in their two performances depicting the events of Holy Week in two moving and reverent performances for parents and they performed it to the rest of the school as part of our end of term assembly on Friday. Fr Benedict, our School Chaplain, has also been in school this week to lead prayerful and age-appropriate Stations of the Cross for children in Tiggers to Year 6.
This Lent we have been focussing on PRAY, FAST, GIVE. We have focussed our prayers in school on those who are less fortunate and those in need of our prayers. In assemblies we have spoken about how we can give of our time to help others and to spend time with our families and how we can give money and items as donations to help those in need. Please remember to bring your Father Hudson’s Good Shepherd Appeal Lenten boxes back to school after the Easter break.
Wishing you a restful Easter break and the Joy of Easter to come.
Kind Regards, Hannah Duncan (Headteacher)
We have a Twitter presence and would love to boost our followers! Fly on over and have a look … @AloysiusSchool
General Information
School Meals – We will have a new menu after the Easter holiday – click to see it. If you have any queries regarding school dinner money or require a statement, please email Mrs. McIntyre HERE. Please note, the cost of a school meal will be increasing in September to £2.50.
Parent Evenings – We are holding parent evenings for Acorn, Tigger, Fir, Fig, Oak and Bay Classes after the Easter holidays. Please remember to book your slot(s) via SchoolCloud. If you need any help, please contact the school office.
Swimming (written by Year 5 students) – We are pleased to announce that year 5 have finally started swimming this term. It was a long wait, stop and start but in the end, we finally managed to get in a few lessons before the Easter holidays. When we started, we realised that it was definitely worth the long wait. Let’s dive into what we’ve been learning this term. Firstly, we were split into 3 groups. The first group for people learning to swim, a second group for building confidence, learning new skills, and preparing for the highest group and finally, the third group in the deep end who do the same as the middle group but with more experience and skill. We have our lessons at Ferry Pool where the teachers make it fun for us to learn new skills and to become more experienced swimmers.
Payments to The School Office – PLEASE NOTE we 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.
Art & Ceramic Clubs
Beautiful cacti created by the Ceramic Club.
Art Club creative flowers.
Please Remember …
Online Safety Newsletter
SCOMIS, the school provider for management systems, have published their latest Online Safety Newsletter for parents. It contains some really good advice about online gaming and support for grandparents!
Music Lessons
Saxophone, violin, guitar, etc. – Oxfordshire County Music Service – https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/music-service
Piano – Michael J. Davies – mjmusicservices@aol.com
Guitar & dumming – DrumBeats – nigel@drum-beats.co.uk
Bright Sparks Science Events
This Term’s House Point Totals
Ashmolean
Bodleian
Radcliffe
Sheldonian
Sheldonian are the Spring Term House Point winners!
We Continue To Pray For Ukraine
God of peace and justice, we pray for the people of Ukraine today.
We pray for peace and the laying down of weapons.
We pray for all those who fear for tomorrow, that your Spirit of comfort would draw near to them.
We pray for those with power over war or peace, for wisdom, discernment and compassion to guide their decisions.
Above all, we pray for all your precious children, at risk and in fear, that you would hold and protect them.
We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
Our Neighbours
Sadly, this year, we have received numerous concerns from local residents about parents driving dangerously and parking across resident’s private driveways. Please respect the local residents and be considerate when parking. It is very important to us that we continue to uphold the good school-community relationship that has been in place for many years. Where possible, try walking to school or parking further along St. Margaret’s Road.
The Way of The Cross
For the past few weeks Years 2, 3 and 4 have been working extremely hard learning the songs, readings and prayers for our Way of the Cross production. These rehearsals culminated in two fantastic performances on Tuesday. The children sang beautifully together but also it was lovely to hear the solos and ensembles performed by children in Year 3 and 4. It provided a lovely lead up to Holy Week which starts on Sunday and was also complemented by Father Benedict who did The Stations of the Cross also on Tuesday for all classes which enhanced the children’s understanding of readings, prayers and songs of Way of the Cross production.
Dates For Your Diary
Summer Term
Summer Term Starts – Monday 25th April @ 8.35am
Bank Holiday – Monday 2nd June
Summer Half Term – Monday 30th May to (and including) Tuesday 7th June
Summer Term Ends – Thursday 21st July @ 1.00pm*
* No Afterschool Club on these days
Some Future Dates
Additional Holiday – Monday 6th June followed by INSET day Tuesday 7th June 2022
First Day of School, Academic Year 2022/23 Tuesday 6th September
Term Dates – 2023-2024
OFSTED & Section 48 Reports
- Please click to read our recent Good OFSTED report.
- Please click to read our recent Section 48 report.
Safeguarding
Our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy and Safeguarding Statement can be found on our website under information or by clicking
Oxford Hawks Hockey Club
Oxford Hawks Hockey Club will be offering an after school hockey club for Year 3, 4, 5 & 6 pupils. It will start on Friday 29th April and will run weekly until Friday 15th July, with no sessions on Friday 27th May or Friday 3rd June.
The club will run from 3.05pm to 4.05pm and will cost £50.00 for the 10 week session.
If your child is interested in joining, please contact Drew Blackburn via email drewblackburn@hotmail.co.uk for more information and to sign up. Please do not contact the school.
You will need to collect your child from outside the school office at 4.05pm promptly.
OFSTED & Section 48 Reports
- Please click to read our recent Good OFSTED report.
- Please click to read our recent Section 48 report.
Battery Recycling
We have a battery reclycling centre in our reception area. Please bring your used batteries into school for recycling.
Young Art Oxford
Competition Winners
The judging for this year’s Young Art Oxford competition has been completed. We are very pleased to let you know that the paintings of the following pupils from your school have been chosen to be exhibited in our annual exhibition at The Ashmolean Museum on 12th-14th May:
Ciara Reid, Danica Smyth, Luna Miksyte, Arthur Murphy, Beatrice Finnis, Loay Derradji Aouat, Giles McCullagh, Ella Moffatt, Maymunah Doha, Aris Mavroeidis, Brock Davies (Commended), Eve Share, Borbala Gyurko, Aoife O’Connell, Tianxia Gong, Karen Chao, James Greenfield, Rafe Graves (Highly Commended), Natalie Osprey, Alyssa Gill, Lukas Becker (Commended), Hugo Nava Hurtado, Emilia Kelly, Ella Broadway, Ella Azzopardi, Bess Thomas, Olenka Devriendt and Carys Catherine Arrigucci.
Well done!
There were almost 2,000 entries this year, so these children have every reason to feel extremely proud of themselves. After the Easter holidays, each winner will receive:
- A Certificate: every successful child receives a certificate of congratulations.
- Details on how to order cards and prints of selected pictures: it will be possible to order prints and greeting cards of all exhibited pictures. Details on how to order them will be included in the letter, but orders can be put in now at: http://www.youngartoxford.com/prints–cards.html
- Information on the Exhibition: this year the Exhibition will be held on 12th-14th May. Tickets to the opening evening are limited and must be booked in advance. A prize giving ceremony will be held on 12th May at 6.00 pm. Prizes are given for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places and those winning first prize will have their entry framed. Entry to the exhibition is free on all days. Every selected artist can also pick up a small gift from the exhibition. Details on the exhibition can be found at this link: http://www.youngartoxford.com/our[1]exhibition.html. The income from selling merchandise and the donations made at the exhibition contribute enormously to the final amount raised for Great Ormond Street Hospital. So please come and support the winners at this wonderful event!
Finally, a huge thank you for all your fantastic entries, for the ones that made it into the exhibition and for the ones that did not. A thank you to our wonderful staff for enabling this to happen. It has been a joy for me to have the chance to see such wonderful work being produced by these budding young artists!
Regards, Paula Wallace, Chair, Young Art Oxford
Governor News
If you would like to see who our governors are and that they do, click HERE.
Breakfast and After School Club
Breakfast Club is open every morning from 7.45am until start of school. Booking is essential and should be made online via the Schoolgateway (bookings can be made up until the day of the session).
After School Club is open Monday to Friday until 5.00pm. Again, booking is essential, online via the Schoolgateway, to ensure correct staffing, bubble planning, etc. Bookings close at 2.00pm on the day of the session. PLEASE COLLECT YOUR CHILDREN ON TIME – staff finish at 5.00pm.
Thank you for supporting our After School and Breakfast Clubs!
ChatHealth Has Launched!
ChatHealth is a safe and secure text messaging service between healthcare professionals and service users that provides confidential help, advice and signposting support.
CLASS NEWS
Acorn Nursery Class
As we head towards Easter, it was a wonderful way to end the term by welcoming parents and carers into Acorns for Stay and Play! The children were so excited to share their interests within the classroom and it was lovely to see everyone so busy and engaged!
In class we have continued throughout Lent to think about kind deeds and helping each other, building on friendships and really forming a sense of community within Acorns. The children have worked hard as a team to earn enough marbles in the jar for a pre-Easter treat by showing good listening, beautiful carpet sitting and really trying their best in our group times. A big well done for how much progress they have made!
As we come towards the end of term and end of Lent, we have begun talking about the approach of Easter and how we celebrate and why. We have enjoyed some delicious play dough hot cross buns cooked by Pietro and hope to enjoy the real thing this week! We have also been exploring the signs of spring and learning about the life cycle of a plant, growing our very own seeds in class. The children have been getting very excited as slowly we are seeing roots and shoots appearing! In addition to this, we have been exploring colour and printing and developing group imaginative play to help language and social skills. Fine and gross motor skills are always a big focus in nursery as well and the children have been enjoying dough disco, wall washes, big painting and fine detail creative work.
In Phonics we have been continuing to learn about rhyme and alliteration as well as adding new sounds ‘p, o, g and c’ to add to our existing sounds m,a,d, s, t, i and n. In Maths we enjoy whole group activities such as counting the number of children in each day as well as interactive games on the computer. In smaller group work we have been continuing to focus on 1-1 counting, numeral recognition and learning the different ways to represent number. We have been strengthening our knowledge of shape as well and learning how to describe 2D shapes and learning mathematical language such as ‘more, less’ and ‘fewer than’.
As you can read, it has been non-stop in Acorns! Thank you so much for allowing us to share the work we have been doing in class with you all and I wish you a very Happy Easter and hope the children enjoy a well earned break!
Tigger Reception Class
Tigger Class have been on so many adventures!!
We started by looking at Amelia Earhart and her adventures in her plane called The Canary, we learnt that she was the first women to fly a plane across the Atlantic. We thought about what types of things she would of taken on her journey, what we would have packed in our suitcases and what we would need to visit different destinations, dependent on them being hot, cold etc.
We have been looking really closely at the natural world in our immediate environment, making observations and drawings. We have been looking for signs of spring and talking about why these changes happen, due to the weather becoming warmer. The children have also looked closely at the different environments comparing them, making observations and writing down their thoughts.
The children used different media to create their own habitat and have made their own flowers using lots of different materials.
In the role play area the children have been recreating their adventures in the boat and the plane that we built . They have been using different props from various countries on their journeys, packing their rucksacks, making binoculars, using maps and books about adventures for reference.
In addition to all this, Tigger Class opened a garden centre selling seeds and tools.
We have been reading one of the Tigger’s (and Mrs Feller’s) favourite books Emily Brown and Stanley this week, as they both like to go on lots of adventures.
We had a visit from a sixth form student who was going on his own adventure for his Duke of Edinburgh Award. We were able to see his very heavy rucksack and we all had a go at lifting it. We also had a look inside to see what kind of things he would need to take with him and Enzo tried his camping chair out for comfort. We asked lots of good questions and learnt what you would eat on a camping adventure expedition.
The children created some wonderful pictures and collage work of Henri Rousseau’s jungle.
In Maths we have been looking at patterns, extending our knowledge to use and recognise more complicated repeating patterns, using actions music, colours and shape.
We have continued to look at part and whole numbers and revisiting all the numbers we have learnt so far. We have looked at how we can use the things we know and different maths equipment (counting frames, Numicon, part and whole diagrams) to solve some simple problems. The children have also been following on from their number bond work, looking at doubles and doubling.
In RE we continued to look at Lent and listened to the story of Jesus healing the blind man. We learnt that we could use Jesus as our example so we could help people during Lent. We have also looked at Palm Sunday and we acted out the story together in class. We continued to learn about Holy week, the last supper and Good Friday and Easter. The children produced lovely booklets with their knowledge. We had a lovely visit from Fr Benedict who showed us a relic from the church containing a shard of the actual cross of Christ.
As always we have been continuing with our phonics learning red words – your, he, we, she, me, be and more diagraphs and triagraphs, oo, or, ar using them to read and write words and sentences.
Fir Year 1 Class
It has been a busy time in Fir Class!
In Maths we have been measuring lengths and heights of different objects around our classroom. We talked about all the ways we could measure. We decided to measure all the children in the class. We started by using our hands or feet but realised we could use many other things. We tried measuring each other with books, blocks and rulers. We even measured how tall Miss Ment is.
We turned our classroom into Fir Forest and wrote stories about it. We even got to read each other’s stories. We started looking at different fairy tales such as The Princess and the Pea. We formed groups and tried to think of as many describing words as we could about the characters. The pea ran away and the Easter bunny put an egg there instead! We then decided how the story might end differently.
We looked at what different materials we could use to create a mattress for the princess so that she wouldn’t feel the pea. Each of us got a pea and lots of different materials to experiment with. We had to be really careful not to squash them!
In Topic, we wrote letters to people from the past. We put stamps on and posted them. We looked at different toy adverts and decided whether they were from the past or present. We then got to be inventors and design our own toy from the past. We made an advertisement for our toys and decided how much they would cost.
Fig Year 2 Class
Fig Class has had a busy few weeks which has been filled with working hard on developing their creative writing skills and within that trying to ensure they are using all the grammar they’ve learnt correctly. In Maths the class have been doing balancing maths sentences so looking how two maths questions can equal the same answer even when using different operations. The children have completed their history of transport topic which they have enjoyed as they were filled with ideas and facts when discussing this term’s learning. In RE the focus has been parts of The Mass and then looking at Palm Sunday and the events in Holy Week. The children now deserve a rest over the holidays!
Oak Year 3 Class
The class had a great time on our visit to Hill End last week. The day was full of active, creative, enjoyable activities such as building a shelter, making Stone Age axes, sitting in a Stone Age Roundhouse and much more. In Maths we have been continuing our topic on fractions, comparing and ordering, adding, and subtracting fractions. In English, the children enjoyed planning and writing a recount of our school trip to Hill End. Last week we started our new topic in Science on Plants, exploring the parts and functions of a flowering plant. In RE we have looked at Holy Week, learning about the story of Palm Sunday and the Last Supper. This week the class really enjoyed performing a lovely Easter production based on the way of the cross. Have a lovely Easter break from all of Oak Class.
Ash Year 4 Class
Some pupils from Year 4 wrote this week’s newsletter entry to share what they have been up to over the past couple of weeks.
Maths
In Maths we have been learning about fractions. We started with equivalent fractions and then learnt about mixed fractions and improper fractions. In lessons we have been converting mixed and improper fractions. This has been fun and we enjoyed the challenge!
English
In English we have been working on writing detailed setting descriptions with Miss Bellamy, using ambitious adjectives and prepositions. With Miss Milani we have learnt about idioms and created our own books using idioms. We started by matching idioms to their meaning – luckily Miss Milani gave us clues or we would have been lost!
RE
With Miss Duncan we talked at the Sacrament of Reconciliation and how Catholics try hard to go to confession during Lent. We then compared the Sacrament of Reconciliation to Yom Kippur. In case you don’t know what Yom Kippur is – it is a Jewish festival that happens once a year and followers wear white and say sorry to friends and family.
Easter Production
We enjoyed learning our lines for the play and the songs. Some of us even sang solos and duets! Our parents were very proud of us.
Art
In Art, we learnt about warm colours and cold colours. Then we used our knowledge to create tree landscapes using oil pastels and chalk pastels. Then we blended the warm colours together and the cold colours together. Unfortunately for Jackie (our cleaner) we made lots of mess but it was good for practising our art skills.
PE
In PE we have been doing lots of different skills. We did strength training with Mrs Brookes, worked as a team playing quidditch, bench ball and shufflebottom with Miss Bellamy. Shufflebottom is a game that Miss Bellamy taught us which is lots of fun but hard work.
Bay Year 5 Class
This week’s newsletter is written by Abdullah, Beatrice and Pat. Wishing everyone a well-deserved, restful Easter holidays!
Our topic ‘Ancient Greece’ has been a great success! This amazing period of time before Christ, demonstrates things that we could never have discovered without the ancient Greeks.
On Tuesday, we all enjoyed a Groovy Greek day. We all got dressed as Ancient Greeks. There were lots of brilliant costumes using ideas from characters and myths that we had learned about.
Throughout the day we took part in a range of activities. We started our day getting busy in the kitchen cooking delicious Greek feta filo parcels which the Greeks enjoy as a snack using: dill (a herb that smelt amazing), sundried tomatoes, spinach, spring onions, feta cheese and filo pastry. Not only did they smell amazing but tasted incredible too. Yum!
Afterwards, we used a copy of the Greek alphabet to paint our name using black paint on an orange strip of card then decorated it using Greek patterns for the borders. All of us worked really hard finding the right upper and lowercase letters and our finished designs looked great!
During the afternoon, some of us got our feet dirty getting a first-hand experience with a real Ancient Greek favourite custom- grape squashing! We took our shoes and socks off and squashed grapes with our feet. It felt odd but strangely satisfying. We had a lot of fun and couldn’t stop giggling!
Whilst some of us were getting our feet covered in grape juice, others were challenged with learning the traditional Greek dance, Zorba. We followed a Zorba dance tutorial to master the dance moves. Working hard together, we repeated the dance steps and performed our Zorba routine to the rest of the class (We definitely think we can get invited to perform at a Greek wedding!).
We were feeling a little exhausted from the hard work of the previous activities and needed something to fill our tummies. We got to snack on Greek olives whilst we watched a Greek Myth – King Midas and the Golden Touch. However, the olives were tasty for some but other found them less delicious!
To end our terrific Greek day, we went outside to participate in our very own Olympics with events the ancient Greeks used to compete in, these included: running relay race, long jump, discus throwing (we threw a frisbee) and javelin. During our Ancient Greek Olympics, we were divided into three teams: Spartans, Trojans and Athenians. There was a great deal of cheering, laughter and smiles. The sun came out during our Greek Olympics and the weather really made us feel like we were in Olympia, Greece times!
Willow Year 6 Class
Thanks to the Ella, Shennelle and Ada who wrote this week’s piece.
Maths
In Maths, we have been focusing on finding the area of triangles followed by our last mock SATS in arithmetic and reasoning. This week we have been busy with some ratio problems to solve. Lastly, weekly maths classes after school have been set up for extra revision with which we have revised angles in a triangle and translating/reflecting shapes on a four-quadrant grid.
PE
During PE, we have challenged girls vs boys and the Year 5’s to games of rounders practising co-ordination skills from keeping your eye on the ball for the perfect hit to gain some rounders.
RE
RE has been based on writing stories about different scenarios and writing letters. Our stories have been about a confessional box and the letters were optionally about opening more catholic secondary schools, opening churches during lockdown or a letter concerning the same issue but as the priest writing back.
English/Topic
In English, we’ve been looking over our topic by writing up a two-page spread. In these we had information about pharaohs, pyramids, mummification, artwork, hieroglyphics and optionally food, jobs, culture and more. We decided to make it artistic and add our own interactive touches.
Art
In Art this week we were focusing on Ancient Egyptian amulets such as: Horus’ eye (a symbol of protection) and the scarab beetle (protection against illness and death). To make our own versions of these amulets, we used clay and paint. First, we took the clay and moulded it into the desired shape; then, after a week of drying, we painted them any way we liked. We also completed our Senet boxes, these are board games from Egyptian times. We decided to make our own twist on the original boxes.
