On Tuesday we had a very exciting day in the Kingfishers class. We had a visit from Tim Maynard who brought Maynard's Mini Zoo with him. He really showcased these wonderful creatures and highlighted their importance in the Natural World. Kingfishers were very brave and touched a millipede, frog, tarantula, chameleon and even held a snake around their necks! 

'I loved when the snake went on my neck it made me look like I had a moustache' - Meeti

'I liked it when snake went around my neck and stroking the tarantula because it was so soft!' - Sienna-Blue

'I liked the frog because it had a little jelly belly. It felt just like jelly!' - Shagaf

'I want the bugs to come back! The best bit was the snake because I never knew they were so long and cold!' - Scarlett 

As part of our celebration of reading in the run up to World Book Day, we welcomed Renata Kaminska, author of 'Hector - A Dog's Story' to our school on Wednesday 23rd February. The novel is the amazing story of a dog named Hector who, like every one of us, wishes only to find happiness. He is a great example of how dogs don't just see our outside, but more importantly what's on the inside too. Renata held a special assembly and Q+A session with Reception, KS1 and KS2. We discussed themes in the book such as feelings, friendship and searching for belonging. Renata also read an extract of her book to us, which we thoroughly enjoyed listening to! We ended the session with some artwork linked to the book. If you would like to know more about our special guest, please visit Renata’s website: https://www.hectorandfriends.com/

This year our school is participating in the Lenten Appeal which is led by the Catholic Children’s Society, a charity which helps children and families living in poverty in the UK. Through their services they also help children overcome disadvantage, achieve their full potential and have better chances in life. As Lent is a time of giving, we ask that you donate what you can to this great cause. Each child will receive a Catholic Children's Society Lenten box. We ask that all boxes are returned to the school office no later than Wednesday 30^th March.

If you would like to know more about our chosen Lenten Appeal for 2022, then please click here.

CCS-One-Community-Poster

[pdf 1MB]

St. Mary of the Angels celebrated World Book Day on Thursday 3rd March. It was a spectacular day full of fun activities and most importantly - lots of READING!

Classes participated in activities such as book tastings, virtual storytelling, author presentations, visits to Paddington Children's Library, mystery storyteller 'drop-ins' to the classroom and our famous book costume parade to end the day.

This annual event is an important day in our school calendar as it promotes and encourages a love for books and reading for pleasure. We model and teach reading every day with our students, and this special celebration certainly showed us how much the children of St. Mary of the Angels love to read.

Thank you to parents and carers for your support, not only in helping to create amazing costumes, but also for encouraging and participating in home reading each day with your child. Reading is the foundation of learning and we certainly value this at our school.

We recently welcomed a new member to our staff team. His name is Lurky and he will be visiting us every Friday afternoon. The Dog Mentor programme has built upon the benefits of the human-animal bond by providing children with positive experiences with dogs that can help them educationally, developmentally, emotionally and socially. We envisage that The Dog Mentor Programme will bring a positive influence into the school environment as a whole and look forward to the impact that The Dog Mentor programme will have on our children. Please feel free to visit The Dog Mentor’s website for more details www.thedogmentor.co.uk

The children in Foundation Stage have enjoyed learning about the life cycle of a chicken over the last two weeks. Our batch of 10 eggs from the Living Eggs Company arrived and we were amazed to see 10 chicks hatch in thier special incubator in Ducklings Class. Everyone in Foundation Stage got the chance to hold a chick and see them grow. We were very sad to say farewell to our chicks but we know they are going to have a happy life living on Mrs Mourino's allotment.

We were delighted to welcome Carla Leowe to our school on Wednesday 4th May to lead two special road safety assemblies, one for Foundation and Key Stage 1 pupils and staff and one for Key Stage 2 pupils and staff. Ms Leowe is a Road Safety Officer with the CIty of Westminster and has been a great support to the school in setting up our School Street and helping us campaign to make changes to improve road safety in and around the school. The assembly also included information about  the Shrewsbury Road School STreet and propsal to extend the zig-zag markings in front of the school. 

The assemblies were bespoke to our school with photos of the school and the surrounding roads used to engage the chidlren and help them understand the Green Cross Code. 

You can view the assembly and the Green Cross Code by clicking on the links below.

	Road Safety Assembly 04 05 2022	[pdf 1MB]
	Green-Cross-Code	[pdf 426KB]

Congratulations to England on winning the Euro 2022 championship! Back in July 2017, members of our girls' football squad were delighted and honoured to meet Prince William as he hosted a reception at Kensington Palace for the England's Women's Football team to wish them luck ahead of the UEFA Euro 2017 tournament which was won by the Netherlands. No doubt all who took part in this visit were thinking back to this special day as they watched the Lionoesses win the 2022 tournament on Sunday 31st July. Happy memories indeed!

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from Heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing hallelujah
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born