St Mary’s CE Primary School
End of the Academic Year
As another academic year draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to reflect on what has been a wonderful final few weeks at school. It has been a busy and memorable end to the year, filled with exciting learning opportunities, special events and celebrations. We are incredibly proud of everything our children have achieved and would like to thank our families, staff, governors, volunteers and wider community for their continued support throughout the year.
Key Stage 1
Our Key Stage 1 children had the exciting opportunity to decorate the Football Development Manager’s office at Burnley Football Club. They painted a collection of beautiful Portugal flags, which were proudly displayed in the office. The club were delighted with the children’s creativity and were extremely grateful for all of their hard work.
As part of our transition programme, Year 2 spent time in the Junior classroom getting to know their future classmates and teachers ahead of September. They enjoyed taking part in ‘getting to know you’ activities, thinking about their goals for next year and sharing interesting facts about themselves.
Key Stage 2
Our Year 6 children demonstrated fantastic leadership skills by helping to support the younger children during transition days as Year 2 experienced life in the Key Stage 2 classroom.
In Geography, the children explored different types of settlements across the UK. Using Google Maps, they identified the characteristics of hamlets, villages, towns and cities, producing some excellent work.
The Juniors finished the year with a fun-filled final PE lesson on the field, playing football and rounders. Our thanks go to Coach Andy for another fantastic year of PE lessons.
Learning Through Play
Our OPAL area has continued to provide wonderful opportunities for learning, creativity and imaginative play throughout the final weeks of term.
With the warm weather upon us, our Infants transformed the OPAL area into an outdoor classroom, making the most of the sunshine and shade while enjoying lessons in the fresh air. The Juniors also enjoyed taking Guided Reading outside, creating a calm and enjoyable learning environment.
Inspired by England’s success in the Women’s Euros, our budding builders designed and constructed their very own football stadium using loose parts. Others showcased their engineering skills by building an impressive motorbike, demonstrating fantastic teamwork, imagination and problem-solving skills.
Working Together Across the World
We were delighted to welcome Elaine into school to introduce us to her charity, Together In Education – UK and Nepal. The children learned about life for children in Nepal, discovering both the similarities and differences between their lives and our own. We are excited to begin working alongside the charity next year to help support children through fundraising and letter writing.
Collective Worship
We have continued to enjoy our weekly visits from our Worship Team, who have led thoughtful acts of worship with the children. During one session, the children explored the story of the Philippian woman, reflecting on the importance of trusting in God and having faith that things will work out.
Golf Taster Sessions
We were delighted to welcome Fiona from PLT into school to deliver golf sessions for both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning new skills, practising their putting and taking part in a range of fun golf activities. It was wonderful to see everyone getting involved, showing great enthusiasm and encouraging one another throughout the sessions.
Our sincere thanks go to Fiona for giving up her time to provide such an enjoyable experience for our children.
Annual Sports Day
After much anticipation, Sports Day proved to be another fantastic afternoon of fun, teamwork and friendly competition.
The final results were: 1st – Hufflepuff (122 points), 2nd – Gryffindor (109 points), 3rd – Ravenclaw (104 points), 4th – Slytherin (94 points)
Every child demonstrated excellent determination, resilience and sportsmanship throughout the afternoon. A special thank you to our Year 6 children for helping organise the events and to Coach Andy for planning such an enjoyable day. We are also grateful to all of the parents and families who came along to support the children.
Celebration Assemblies
Our weekly Celebration Assemblies continued to recognise our Wizards of the Week and Special Stars, alongside celebrating the many achievements our children accomplish outside of school.
Over the final weeks we celebrated achievements including swimming awards, dance medals, football trophies, kickboxing and wrestling successes, horse riding accomplishments and a wonderful ballet performance in Peter Pan.
Due to the exceptionally warm weather, one of our Celebration Assemblies was held outdoors, allowing everyone to enjoy recognising each other’s achievements in the sunshine.
End of Year Trips
Key Stage 1 enjoyed a wonderful visit to Wild Discovery Zoo, where they observed a wide variety of animals and learned lots about different habitats.
Our Key Stage 2 children had an unforgettable end-of-year trip to FUNDALAND. They thoroughly enjoyed the climbing wall, bumper cars, soft play and laser tag, creating memories to last a lifetime. We are extremely grateful to FUNDA for providing such a memorable experience.
Friends of Newchurch School (FONS)
Our end-of-year Cake Sale and Tombola was another fantastic success. It was wonderful to see so many families supporting the event, and we would like to thank everyone who donated cakes, prizes and their time. A special thank you goes to our incredible FONS committee whose continued dedication helps provide so many wonderful opportunities for our children.
FONS also treated the children to welcome ice creams during the hot weather and provided another ice cream for every child following the Year 6 Leavers’ Service, which was enjoyed by everyone.
We are also incredibly grateful to FONS for generously funding the coach travel for both our Key Stage 1 trip to Wild Discovery Zoo and our Key Stage 2 visit to FUNDALAND, helping to make these memorable experiences possible for all of our children.
Gardening Club
During the final few weeks of term, Gardening Club enjoyed a lovely family picnic in the school grounds, giving children, families and friends the opportunity to spend time together and celebrate another successful year.
The final Gardening Club session was a fun-filled afternoon where the children took part in an end-of-year quiz, explored the garden and even met our very own ‘live scarecrow’, who certainly kept everyone smiling.
This session also marked the final Gardening Club led by Pete and Gin. Over many years they have generously given their time, knowledge and enthusiasm to help our children develop a love of gardening and the outdoors. We would like to express our sincere thanks for everything they have done for our school community and wish them both every happiness for the future. Their kindness, dedication and support will be greatly missed.
Rushbearing Celebrations
It was wonderful to see so many of our families taking part in this year’s traditional Rushbearing celebrations. Children and families enjoyed making flower crowns and rush crosses, singing competitions, Morris dancing and the traditional crowning of the Rushbearing King and Queen. It was a fantastic weekend celebrating one of our village’s most treasured traditions and we thank everyone who helped make it such a success.
A Fond Farewell
At the end of this academic year, we also said a fond farewell to two much-valued members of our school family, Mrs Brice and Mr Demaline, who have both retired.
Between them, they have dedicated many years of service to our school, supporting families and colleagues with kindness, commitment and care. We are incredibly grateful for everything they have contributed to our school community and the positive impact they have made over the years.
On behalf of everyone at school, we thank Mrs Brice and Mr Demaline for their unwavering dedication and friendship. We wish them both a long, happy and well-deserved retirement filled with good health, happiness and new adventures. They will always be a valued part of our school family and will be greatly missed.
Farewell to Year 6
Our Year 6 Leavers’ Service was a truly memorable occasion. The children entertained everyone with their own Googlebox-inspired presentation, shared wonderful memories from their time at school and reflected on the friendships they have made over the years.
We would like to thank FONS for the lovely leavers’ gifts and the ice creams enjoyed after the service. The school was also delighted to present each child with a special keepsake to remember their time with us.
The whole school gathered to clap our Year 6 children out of school for the final time before enjoying a fantastic Colour Run to round off the celebrations. We are incredibly proud of each and every one of our leavers and know they have bright futures ahead of them. As our school vision reminds us, “It is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary,” and we know they will continue to do just that.
Wishing Everyone a Wonderful Summer
As we head into the summer holidays, we would like to wish all of our children, families and members of our local community a safe, happy and restful summer. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in September, especially our new Reception children and their families, as we begin another exciting school year together.