Taking mildly less risks than the Infamous Alex Honnold, St Peter’s abseils:

Day 1 at Fairthorne conquered!

The children and adults have all arrived safely to Fairthorne Manor where we were greeted by some strong British rainfall!!! No-one let this dampen their spirits and the children pushed on through their first and second menu of activities and into dinner-time with full verve and vigour. Having settled very well into the patter of the day here at Fairthorne, children competed in a House Dodgeball Competition in the sports hall for 90 minutes this evening, participating in a round robin event that then led into a Final and a 3^rd and 4^th place playoff. St John Paul II House – Blue House – ended up being the victors, beating Oscar Romero House (Yellow House) in a tight final. They were treated to constructive feedback after each match, where referees of Chief Coach Crozier and Line Judge Land distilled what they had just witnessed! It seemed like great fun was had by all and there were some clear strategies that bore success – “Catch the slower balls, dodge the faster balls and get the better players out first!”

Presently as we write this, all children are in their rooms recharging their batteries to go again tomorrow.

More updates to follow tomorrow night!

The Year 6 Team

What a day! We were so fortunate to have Ellie- May Sheridan and Billy Jenkins from BBC to series Dodger come and spend the afternoon with us! After a time of Q and A, they helped direct our Mary Poppins show… Their advice was helpful but really their whole manner, warmth and enthusiasm for life was inspirational.

We are here and arrived safely!

The children have enjoyed their first two activities, a lunch and an evening meal finished with a rigorous night hike through the woods of Fairthorne. Some songs were even sung at our half-way point, which included the classic ‘Bungalow’ song!!! Children improvised and got stuck into it, in readiness for Camp Fire night on Thursday.

Hot chocolate and some classic, much appreciated biscuits were consumed by all about an hour ago and now we are hoping for a seamless transition into skin-care regimes, tooth-brushing and sleep!!! Fingers crossed for the last one!

Photos to follow tomorrow night.

The Year 6 Team

On Tuesday this week the children were once again fortunate to be   taught music by Mrs Richardson, Head of Performing Arts at Oaklands. This week, she quickly built upon the skill of reading and clapping a rhythm to using colour coded notation on a stave. The Year 6 children picked this up quickly, so she then introduced them to nursery rhymes on a stave using their knowledge of the position of notes E, G, A and C. I think we were all amazed at how much we had learnt in half-an-hour!

We look forward to welcoming Mrs Richardson back in a couple of weeks.

Have a great St Peter’s Fest and weekend.

The Year 6 Team

Year 6 pupils were delighted to welcome Father Jeremy into their RE lesson this week. We were extremely grateful to Father, who must have come to us already somewhat exhausted from leading a liturgy and then speaking with Year 2 for an hour! If he was tired, he didn’t show it and used all the time available to develop our pupils’ understanding of the Gifts received from the Sacrament of Confirmation. This is a tricky topic to explain, but Father Jeremy had the children hooked with real-life examples of what each Gift means, and how they bring us closer in our relationship and understanding of God and what He wants for us. It was also interesting to hear Father’s stories of how Confirmation has given people the courage to lead and contribute to the work of the church in a much greater way.

The weather was good to us this week and just in time too for the children to bring their bikes into school, don their helmets and get out onto our local roads.

This year the course was run by Hampshire County Council and we have to thank them for their professionalism and the number of staff provided to instruct and ensure the children were always safe. The way they structured the sessions meant that each class benefitted from eight hours of direct instruction across the week. As we know, riding a bike is one thing, but knowing how to ride safely with respect to other road users is a unique and vital skill to learn. Thanks to the course, most of our children secured the Level 2 Bikeability Award. Some who were less confident also made excellent progress by honing their skills within the safety of the school playgrounds.

Well done all!

It was lovely to welcome back the children after their well-deserved Easter Break! Well done to all of those who managed to make time to continue working on and revisiting those areas of learning that will give them confidence in the upcoming SATs.

On that note, please see below for details of a special ‘Year 6 Breakfast Club’ that will be made available during SATs week itself.

Friday 21^st  April 2023

Dear Parents and Carers

As you are aware, Year 6 pupils will sit their end of Key Stage SATs tests during the week beginning Monday 8^th May. With Monday 8^th a Bank Holiday, their first test will take place on Tuesday 9^th May. We have been really impressed with the effort that all pupils have been putting in to prepare for these assessments.

Outlined below is a summary of some of the steps the Year 6 team have taken to ensure that SATs week is as stress-free as possible for our pupils.

All Year 6 pupils are invited to a free breakfast club each morning during SATS week. Breakfast club will open at 8am and close at 8:30am. All children will be supervised by members of staff until the start of lessons at 8:50am. This has proved very successful in the past as we have found that it helps to settle any nerves and gives pupils time to talk to their friends before they enter the classroom. Pupils attending Breakfast Club should enter through the main hall side door just opposite the middle carpark where they will be met by a Breakfast Club staff member.

The Year 6 teachers have spent a considerable amount of time giving careful thought to the needs of each individual pupil to help ensure that their SATs week experience is a positive one. As well as the main Year 6 classrooms, a number of other rooms in the school will also be used by pupils when sitting their tests. This helps to ensure that pupils have enough space and also supports the needs of any pupils who work more effectively in a smaller setting. As well as the Year 6 teaching team, there will be a number of other staff members from across the school helping to administer the tests. All staff involved in administering the test have received training in advance.

The Year 6 team have also spent time talking pupils through how the tests will be administered to help familiarise them with the process. Pupils have already completed mock SATs tests which have been undertaken in the same way that they will experience during SATs week. All of this is to help ensure that there are no surprises for pupils on the day.

Pupils can be supported by you at home by helping to ensure that they get a good night’s sleep before each of the test days.

Below is a reminder of the timetable for SATs week:

Tuesday 9^th May:            English grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 1: questions

English grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 2: spelling

Wednesday 10^th May:    English reading

Thursday 11^th May:        Mathematics Paper 1: arithmetic

Mathematics Paper 2: reasoning

Friday 12^th May:              Mathematics Paper 3: reasoning

If you have any further questions around SATs week, please do get in touch.

Yours sincerely

Mr Crozier

Deputy Headteacher

This week, the children have studied Jesus’ teachings around Praying, Fasting and Giving Alms. This work introduced them to the Hypocrites – those who would blow trumpets before they gave in the synagogues and on the streets. We learnt that we should do our good works secretly and quietly, as God the Father will see and hear them, and we will be rewarded.

Discussion focused on which of Praying, Fasting or Giving Alms the children thought was most important. You can read some of their responses below:

Have a lovely weekend.

The Year 6 Team