Over 100 children have had a fantastic time at our Summer School this year - please look below to find out the exciting activities that we have been enjoying each day!

Our final day at Summer School and the feedback from children and parents was that they had enjoyed an amazing week. The skills we learned today were how to use origami to fold paper and make bookmarks, creating rap music, composing new music, preparing fresh pasta and tomato sauce for our lunch, playground games, board games, arts and crafts and how to play cricket and rounders. 

On Wednesday, each child was very excited to receive a 'Take and Make' box, with all the ingredients needed to make a delicious 'Rainbow Paella' at home. We also enjoyed preparing fresh pasta, baking biscuits, sewing, making decorative cards, developing our artistic skills and more multisports.

Today we enjoyed sculpture, Mayan art, biscuit decorating, poetry, collage and sports.

On our first day at Summer School, we enjoyed African drumming, jewellery making, fruit kebabs, painting, sewing and sports.

We are so proud of our amazing Year 6 children as they take the next steps on their learning journey and transition to Secondary School. They produced a wonderful performance of ‘Aladdin’ which was enjoyed by our parents. We were led in Worship at St Mary’s Church by Father Steve for our Leaver’s service, each child received a Bible as a gift. We look forward to our Year 6 children visiting us next year as they will always be a part of the St Mary’s family.

Each class at St Mary’s enjoyed taking part in a wide range of activities - focused on the theme of ‘healthy mind, healthy body’. During the week, the children experienced meditation, yoga, vegetable tasting, fruit kebab making and some healthy maths! The week culminated in our annual Sports Day, a fantastic event held at Ladywell Arena athletics track.

“You can keep your body healthy in fun ways” Kajanika, Year 4
 
“I can take deep breaths and enjoy silent moments” Ebenezer, Year 4
 
“The Maths lesson was fun because we got to do exercise” Kaya, Year 4

We have missed the opportunity to take part in Sports tournaments against other schools during the pandemic. So, it was a wonderful experience to take part in 2 football competitions. The Year 5 boys can be very proud as they held their own against teams that were a year older than them, scoring in every match. Meanwhile, our Year 5 and Year 6 girls put in an outstanding performance to win their competition. We forgot about the disappointment of England’s loss in the Euro 2020 final as the girls brought football home (to St Mary’s)!

On a warm, sunny day, this was a fantastic event held at Ladywell Arena athletics track. The children competed in their teams at Sports Day, completing six athletic challenges and a sprint race. They practised the skills and techniques which they have learned in their PE lessons.

Just before the end of term an amazing van arrived at St Mary's playground. It's sides popped out and there were steps up leading into the Professor's laboratory.

Inside was Fantastic Fred and the Professor who came to tell each class about the importance of looking after your brain, which is like an amazing computer. To do this they talked about;

• Food - good food helps to keep our mood and concentration balanced
• Rest - primary school children should sleep between 9 and 11 hours each night
• Exercise - we should all be getting 60 mins of exercise a day - walking and playing count!
• Devices - which includes anything with a screen should be limited to 1 hour a day

These 4 areas all contribute to our good mental health - children and adults alike. So let's try and do more to help ourselves and our children maintain good mental health!