All posts by Mrs Swanston

Catholic Education Week 2024

Catholic Schools Week 2024 | Diocese of Meath
We celebrated Catholic Education Week / Fortnight in November.
This year’s theme is “Pilgrims of Hope“.  Pope Francis has confirmed that 2025 will be a year of Jubilee, which happens every 25 years.
Pilgrims of Hope centres around the idea of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, ongoing effects of Covid and climate crisis.
“We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire; that is why I have chosen as the motto of the Jubilee, Pilgrims of Hope. ”  The Holy Father, Pope Francis.
Catholic Schools Week 2024 | Diocese of Meath
Jubilee Pledge 2025:
We are pilgrims of hope.
We walk in solidarity with our sisters and brothers
worldwide, sharing challenges and celebrating joys.
We promise to be agents of change, working together for
justice, love and peace, locally and globally.
We want to build a fairer world, where every person,
and the earth, can flourish.
Look at some of the work out wonderful pupils created during Catholic Education Week / Fortnight in St. Mary’s…..

Christmas and The Daily Mile by P4

Xmas Tree

Primary 4 made beautiful Christmas tree cards this week!

On Friday morning, the wholes school took part in the Daily Mile. We walked around the playground approximately 14 times which equals a distance of one mile.  Some of us walked, some of us jogged and some of us ran!  We even listened to Christmas music as we walked and got the chance to walk with our friends from our own class, other classes and with our siblings.

 

Primary 4 – Talk Money Week

Primary 4 have been learning more about money!
Talk Money Week is an annual campaign to get the nation talking about money.  This year, the week takes place from 4th – 8th November and the theme is ‘Do One Thing’.   Equipping our children to have the knowledge and skills to manage money effectively now and in the future is a valuable endeavour.
We looked at a range of notes and coins and spoke about the ways in which we can pay for items in shops and online.  Mr. Elliot kindly showed us a range of currency from around the world and we compared British money to that of different countries.  On Friday Bonnie brought in a $1 note and Jessica brought in a €10 note – thanks girls!
With a partner, we did “Let’s talk about money” conversation cards.   Examples of questions we spoke about include:
– Are you good at saving money?  If so, how do you save?
– How do you spend your money?  What do you usually buy?
– What would you do if you won the lottery?
– What was the last thing you bought?  Where did you buy it and how much did it cost?
– Would you lend money to a friend?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?
– Where is the safest place you can keep your money?
– Name some ways in which people can save more money.
Some of the children’s responses:
Alexander – The last thing I bought was bread and I got it at Scotmid and it cost £1.50.
Kiera – I save money in a piggy bank and I fill it with 1ps and 2ps.  It’s a grey elephant piggy bank.
Peter – If I won the lottery I’d buy thousands of Roblox!  
Cody – With my money I usually buy bottles of water. football cards and sweets for me and my friends.
Luke – We pay for our shopping with a card.
Iza – Money can give you happiness because you can get toys and sweets and nice things.
Karlie – I would rather spend time with my family than have lots of money and spend it all, so money can’t really buy you happiness.
Jessica – Yeah, I’m good at saving money and I put most of my money in my wallet.
Jacob – I have given poor people some money.  If I was rich, I would give some of my money to poor people.
This year’s theme is “Do one thing” – here are some suggestions from P4 about what people could do to improve their financial wellbeing.
– Reuse and recycle items at home so  people are not buying things and spending money unnecessarily.
– Set a limit on what you spend.
– Turn off lights and put the heating lower to save money on energy bills.
– Visit places as a family that are free such as the park or museum.

P4 casting their votes – House elections

House Captains | Valley Primary School – Kirkcaldy, Fife

St Andrew

St John Ogilvie

St Margaret

St Ninian

This morning, we all went to the Primary 7 classroom to cast our votes for the House Captain elections.  Over the past few weeks the candidates in Primary 7 have taken part in Hustings, where they have shared information to the whole school about why they would make a great House Captain!  We enjoyed casting our votes and popping our vote into the box.  We look forward to hearing who our new House Captains will be – good luck to all!

 

 

School values – P4

How do you know what your values are? And why bother finding out?

Our Primary 4 stars have been hard at work over the past few weeks and had fun settling into our school routines again!

We have spoken a lot about our School Values and ways that we can demonstrate these around the school and playground.  Our values are so important to every day school life and we are trying really hard to follow these and encourage others to do the same.

Friendship

Safety

Respect & Good Manners 

Perseverance

Trust & Honesty  

Here are some of our thoughts on St. Mary’s School Values

Karlie – I think they are good because they keep us safe and I know them off by heart!

Hudson – Actually, I think they are pretty good.

Bonnie – I like our values and they keep us safe.  Lots of people are good at following them.  Miss Pritchard talks about them at assembly.

Peter – I like them all and I try to do them.

Damon – Our values are good because they keep us safe and it’s a good school.

Cody – The school values are important and every class has them.

Jessica – I think all the values are important because it makes us all feel safe.  The teachers are happy when we follow them, and so are we.

Jaxon – Friendship is a good one because they make you happy.

Cooper – We should have good manners.

Iza – Perseverance is when you try your best and not give up.  It means you should keep going.

Rocco – We talk about the values lots and I try hard to follow them.

P3 – Sharing the Learning

SHARING THE LEARNING – 31.5.24

How Maths — No Problem! sets the stage for learning statistics

What a super morning we had with parents for our Sharing the Learning event.  As usual, we had a great turn out and we appreciate the support you show to your children and the school.

We have been learning about data handling and been focusing on pictograms.  This morning we collected data about Primary 3’s favourite fruits and we included parents too.  After collecting information, we created a pictogram to display the information and then analysed and interpreted it.

 

More Health Week fun in P3

On Thursday we enjoyed a visit from local nurses who told us all about the importance of sleep and we made our very own dream catchers!  We walked to Polbeth Bowling Club and enjoyed playing bowling in groups – what an amazing sport which we all loved taking part in!  In the afternoon we went to our school garden and made  flower bombs, which involved  mixing soil and compost and water into a mudball, dipping into seeds and wrapping them in a paper towel tightly.  We then positioned them on the ground and they will attract butterflies and other insects.  On Friday morning we loved doing some fitness work with Mrs Saunders – what a great start to the day!  We played some Circle Time games and made posters about what makes us happy.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone involved in preparing and volunteering for this year’s Health Week!

Stella – I liked making a dream catcher and mine was dark blue and purple.  I hung it above my bed.

Ellie – I liked the bowling and it was so much fun.

Bonnie – I liked making the mudballs and they will attract butterflies.  I put mine next to one of the planters.

Jacob – I loved having bowling because it was fun doing it with my friends.  It’s a good sport.

Scarlette – I liked doing Fitness this morning, it was fun!

Alexander – I enjoyed making mudballs with Mrs. Watson.

Bella – I liked playing the playground games in the afternoon and we made up our own games.

Cody – I enjoyed doing Fitness with Mrs Saunders, my heart was beating fast!

Jessica – I liked the bowling because my grandads do it.  I would like to try it again.

Iza – I loved bowling. I could hit the white ball three times.

Primary 3 – The Ascension of Our Lord

Liturgia Latina: The Ascension of our Lord

The Ascension of Our Lord – 9.5.24

A huge well done to our wonderful Primary 3 children for leading Mass this morning on the Feast of the Ascension.  We are very proud of you all for your wonderful participation, readings and singing of hymns.  This is a Holy Day of Obligation and it was lovely to welcome parishioners and children and staff from St. Thomas’ Primary School.

Stella – I enjoyed seeing my mum and dad at Mass.

Iza – I read a bidding prayer and I did the Offertory with Rocco.

Annalee – I was nervous before my reading but I was happy with myself for reading it, and I read out all the words in my bidding prayer.

Bonnie – We were quite nervous but we practiced and we read our parts very well.  I did the First Reading.

Alexander – I did the Gospel Acclamation.  It was an awesome Mass.

Jessica – My mum and dad came to Mass and I read the First Reading with Bonnie and Stella.

Cody – Ascension Day is 40 days after Easter.  It’s when Jesus went up to heaven.

Bella – Jesus appeared to his disciples after Easter.   He did this for 40 days.

Hudson – We all sang the hymns.

 

Reading in Primary 3

Reading at home

In the mornings, we enjoy choosing a book to read at our desks.  It is a lovely soft start to our day and we all enjoy having some quiet time to read for enjoyment in class.

Bella – Reading is really nice and it makes you calm.

Alexander – I love reading.  I love reading in school.

Jacob – I love “Where’s Wally?”

Damon – I love reading “Minecraft”.

Bonnie – I like to read information books to find out new things,

Annalee – I love reading  “Matilda”.

Stella – it’s fun to read in class and it is nice and quiet.

Peter – I like reading and the pictures too.

Luke – There’s lots of them (books) to choose from.