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Author: Ms Beaumont

Curriculum Statement

The Catholic faith is at the heart of our curriculum and our vision is rooted in the Gospel values. Our new curriculum has the development of literacy and numeracy at its core, alongside developing the attributes for children to be good learners, as these are the essential life skills for every child to be able to access future learning. As a Foundation Phase School we know our children learn best through practical ‘hands on’ learning opportunities.  These enable them to experience exciting learning in a meaningful way that challenges and reflects their interest and encourages them to be curious and active in their own learning.

 We tailor learning to provide children with opportunities to develop skills and explore concepts. These will allow them to build their knowledge and understanding through topics that will capture their interest and stimulate their imagination, developing them as ambitious, confident, informed learners to face future challenges as lifelong learners.

Collective Worship

As we move through the month of May, whole school acts of worship are thankfully part of school life. Across the school we are working towards developing pupil voice and in this context children help plan the celebrations in many ways including leading us in prayer and reflection, organising the weekly altars, guiding us through the different parts of worship and providing ideas on how we can live out the Word of God.

We Gather. Year 2 children present the Rosary to become part of May Altar.
Presentation of Flowers to Mary
Year 1 pupils brought symbols reflecting Jesus as the Good Shepherd
We Gather
We Listen to the Word of the Lord
We can pray in so many ways. Movement, action and singing. Holy Spirit fill me up!

Living OUT our Catholic Mission

Thanks to all who joined us to gather together to support and raise money for friend of the school Olivia on a sunny, breezy Thursday afternoon. It was fantastic to walk Aberafan seafront, celebrating the achievement of walking the total distance of the coastline of Wales. We also remembered the troubles in Ukraine and part of the money raised will go towards supporting refugees from Ukraine.

Please join with us to pray the rosary for peace in the world.

Whole School and wider community Sponsored Walk
As we walked we thought about Peace at home, in Ukraine, in the world

Mary Queen of Peace pray for us.

An End to Physical Punishment in Wales

Dear Parents and Carers,

The law in Wales has changed for the better. It is no longer acceptable for a child to be reprimanded using physical punishment. Please see information below from Welsh Government.

Professional Endorsement films

The Welsh Government has created three new endorsement films with three professionals who work with children. These professionals, a Paediatrician, a Child Psychologist and a Headteacher share why they support the law change and reasons as to why physical punishment has negative effects on children.

You can find these films on the word document on the asset bank –

English word document: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8260.html

Welsh word document: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8261.html

Download the word document and then scroll down to page 2 and click the link to the film you wish to access. This will take you to vimeo where you can download the film in different format sizes.  

Minority community leaflets

The Welsh Government has translated the parent factsheet into 12 other languages please find them here:

Arabic: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8539.html

Bengali: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8538.html

Dari: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8541.html

French: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8542.html

Gujarati: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8543.html

Nepali: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8544.html

Portuguese: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8546.html

Polish: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8545.html

Punjabi: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8547.html

Romanian: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8548.html

Simplified Chinese: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8540.html

Urdu: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8549.html

Minority community animations

The Welsh Government has created a short animation with the core campaign message in 12 other languages:

Arabic French Portuguese Romanian 
Bengali Gujarati Polish Simplified Chinese 
DariNepaliPunjabi Urdu 

These animations can be found on the word document on the asset bank –

English word document: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8260.html

Welsh word document: https://wales.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wales/images/assetbox/ce40e904-b1b3-4ca8-b0f6-98f9e78cd2ad/asset8261.html

Download the word document and then scroll down to page 2 and click the link to the animation you wish to access. This will take you to vimeo where you can download the film in different format sizes.

Philosophy for Children, making space to develop children’s thinking

Reception P4C

Koala makes the Right Choice – Raising awareness that choices result in consequences, which can be positive or negative.

After listening carefully to the story we discussed the differences between:-

‘Good Choices’ and ‘Bad Choices.’ We drew pictures and placed them in the appropriate hoop.

Rainbow Fish – Exploring ethics, specifically friendships and sharing.

Question for philosophy enquiry: Do you think Rainbow Fish should have shared his scales? Following our discussion we evaluated our lesson using happy/sad faces.

  • Did you enjoy philosophy today?
  • Were you happy to speak within the group today ?
  • Did you listen well today?
  • Did you do a lot of thinking?


 

Reception/Year 1 P4C

 Question for philosophy enquiry: Would you rather stay at home or come to school?

The children made their first choice when the question was posed, they sat either side of the ‘concept line’ according to their choice.  After listening to their friends reasons for their choice, the vote changed and many children decided that they too would like to change their mind!  In P4C it’s fine to change your mind.
                                                                                                                                 

                                                                           First Vote                                                                                                                                      


Second Vote

Monkey needs to Listen – exploring issues of listening properly to instructions and paying attention.

Before the story was read the children played ‘Simon Says.’  This  game highlighted the importance of listening carefully.

           Question for philosophy enquiry: Has there been a time when you haven’t listened to an adult, what were the consequences?

 

 

‘Simon Says’

                                                                                                                                                      

   After the enquiry the children played:-                                                                                                                                      

                                                                 ‘Chinese Whispers’                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                                               

                        

Year 1 P4C

Turtle comes out of her shell – A story about why sometimes people feel uncomfortable in certain situations, and how we can try to find ways to  overcome shyness and anxiety.                           

Question for philosophy enquiry: Have you ever felt shy like Turtle in the story?

During our enquiry we discussed ways of overcoming anxiety and shyness.  In the story Miss Bird the teacher suggested taking a deep breath.  The children practised a mindful exercise called ‘Hot Chocolate.’  They cooled their imaginary hot chocolate while focussing on breathing and relaxing and realised that they can help to control their feelings of shyness and anxiety.

 

 

Lion’s in a Flap – A book about feeling worried.  Children have an opportunity to explore what makes people feel worried and how to use coping mechanisms.

Questions for philosophy enquiry :-

Have you ever felt worried?

How does it make you feel?

Can you think of a way to overcome these physical features of anxiety?                                                         

 

   

Year 2 P4C

Croc Needs to Wait – This book gives children the opportunity to explore the idea of being patient and the importance of taking the time to do things carefully.

Question for philosophy enquiry:-

Why is it important to work cooperatively?

Have you ever worked with a friend, how did it go?

Following the enquiry the children were set into pairs with friends they don’t normally work with.   They were  given a giraffe to colour.  It was necessary to share the two crayons that they were provided with to complete the task.

 

The children evaluated their learning, they decided that:-

They liked working with different friends.

It was fun.

It was exciting.

It was good.

It was a pleasure.

Some children said that they would love to do it again!

 

 

Rhino Learns to be Polite – This story gives children the opportunity to explore the importance of having good manners and being polite and considerate towards others.

Question for philosophy enquiry: What makes good manners?

 

 

 

The children made lots of suggestions:-

No interrupting when someone is speaking.

Remember to say please and thank you.

No yawning when someone is speaking.

They were given the opportunity to agree/disagree with their peers, and to state their reasons why?

 

 

 

 

 

Understanding Mental Health – FREE Solihull parenting courses, for parents, carers, grandparents.

 

BRAND NEW!! Online course ‘Understanding your child’s mental health and wellbeing’ from the Solihull Approach (NHS).

Access for free:

Did you know Public Health Wales have PRE-PAID for every parent and carer in Wales to access a course for parents/carers (access now for life-long access)? FREE (with access code: SWSOL or NWSOL at: www.inourplace.co.uk) for residents in our area. There are courses for parents, carers and grandparents about children from bump to 19+ years.

How do I access for free? Go to www.inourplace.co.uk and register, and then please use SWSOL if you live in South and Mid Wales and NWSOL if you live in North Wales to get free access to all the online courses (funded for residents): or

If, like many parents, you have already used this code, log into your account here and this course will be ready in your dashboard to start whenever you are ready.

Can I tell my family and friends?

Absolutely! Share the news with family members and other families in the area so that they too can take advantage of this fantastic opportunity.

How long is it?

‘Understanding your child’s mental health and wellbeing’ itself is in 2 parts (2 modules long in total):

1. Take Part 1….

2. …then take ‘Understanding your child’ OR ‘Understanding your child with additional needs’ (11 modules each taking 10-15 minutes to complete, benefitting from time to digest in between)….

3. …then take Part 2.

If you like this… …you might like the other courses ‘Understanding your teenager’s brain’ (short course) or ‘Understanding your child’s feelings’ (taster course) , or other courses in the series. www.inourplace.co.uk

A New Year! Croeso 2022! Welcome to 2022!

Feb Return 2022

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to the Spring Term. I hope that you have had a holy, healthy and restful Christmas. We have missed the children and all staff are looking forward to them returning tomorrow.

However, this is a cautious return as NPT moves to COVID 19 HIGH RISK level. Our aim is to keep school open, to do this we will need to reintroduce the systems we have developed to keep all our families, children and staff safe. I am very aware that there are vulnerable individuals within all our families. I thought it would be useful to revisit how you can help us all to keep as safe as possible. It is really important that if your child have any of the 3 key symptoms that they do NOT attend school:

  • High temperature
  • A continuous cough
  • A loss or change to sense of smell or taste

New guidance for children 5-17 years identified as close contacts advises that they take a Lateral Flow Test every day for 7 days or until 10 days since last contact with the person tested positive. Please inform school should you have a positive case in the family.

Could we ask your support as parents to help with the following:

  1. Adults, please wear a face mask in the yard and keep to the staggered entry exit times: Y2-8:45, Mrs Turner and Mrs James 8:50, Mrs Mapp /Mrs Torrance 8:55, Nursery 9:00
  2. To reduce transmission, please move away from school promptly once your child has been dropped. If more than one sibling, please only one adult per family in the yard.
  3. Please keep 2m social distance on the yard.
  4. Use Breakfast Club only when essential.

Sadly, we will be suspending Language and Play for January, but will definitely review the situation in February. Hopefully, working together we will be able to provide learning and teaching based in school throughout this very challenging time ahead.

Thank you for your support.

Ms Julie Beaumont