Advent is an important part of the Christian calendar. It means 'coming' and it's the period before Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Jesus. The Advent Season is all about reflecting on how we can prepare our hearts and homes for Christ’s birth in the world as it is today.  It is a time for faith communities and families to remember, through prayer, reflections and good deeds what the true meaning of Jesus’ birth is.

There are many different traditions associated with the four weeks of Advent. Here at St Mary of the Angels we have been very busy reflecting and thinking about others. We packed over 650 Vinnie Packs for the homeless, donated winter coats and fleeces for the Calling London Winter Coat Campaign and most recently donated and gathered food and toiletries for the North Paddington Foodbank. Thank you to everyone for all your generosity and kindness.

Seeing as we are almost half way through the season of Advent, we would like to share with you some of our beautiful class prayer tables which reflects this special time of solace and remembrance as we await the birth of Jesus.

Exciting news!

St Mary of the Angels will be taking part in a London Maths competition, against lots of other primary schools in London. The competition will take place from 22nd June-26th June. Every child in Years 1-6 can take part and there are lots of prizes to be won!

This week, your class teacher will be calling you with your log-in details - have a piece of paper and a pencil ready to write them down! Then, you must go to the Sum Dog website 
https://www.sumdog.com/user/sign_in and enter your log-in details. Each pupil will need to log in and answer some maths questions every day next week to win prizes!

The prizes are:

• The overall 1st place class will receive a Maths Week London trophy. Each pupil in the winning class will receive an app store voucher, either for Android or iOS.
• 2nd and 3rd place classes will receive medals.
• The top 3 pupils across London will receive medals and app store vouchers.

Click on the letter below for more details - good luck!!

Maths Competition.pdf

[pdf 242KB]

International Nurses Day is a special occasion that happens annually where we can thank nursing staff globally for all their essential work. 2020 is also the International year of the Nurse and the Midwife. 

The 12th May also marks the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. Florence was a nurse who saved many soldiers lives during the Crimean War. She became known as the 'Lady with the Lamp' as she carried a lamp to check on her patients during the night. She is remembered for making changes to improve the care of patients and showing others what an important  profession nursing is. To find out more, please visit our Home Learning pages. 

Class JJ started our Remembrance Day commemorations with a beautiful and very moving assembly on Friday 8th November. The pupils reminded us that the 11th November, or the the nearest Sunday to it, is a very special day when we remember and pray for the souls of all those who have fought in wars to ensure our country’s  freedom.  We do not just remember those who died in World War I and Word War II but those who have died in conflicts all around the world.  Class JJ's assembly was followed by a special assembly for our Key Stage 2 pupils on Monday 11th after which the whole school joined the nation in a 2 minute silence. The staff are incredibly proud of the reverence shown by the pupils from Nursery up to Year 6. Our class prayer tables continue to be a focus for our prayers for the fallen and all the dearly departed who we espcecailly pray for during the month of November. 

On Tuesday 15^th October, Class F were lucky enough to be Pirates for the day on the Floatiing Classroom. We  journeyed from Paddington Basin all the way to Camden and enjoyed exploring our local area, identfying materials used in the enviroment on the way. We also got to make our own pirate treasure chests and hats and promised that we will never litter, and always do our best to recycle.

Congratulations to our newly elected School Council members. Elections were held in each Key Stage 2 class during the week beginning 23rd September and the following pupils were duly elected to serve for the academic year 2019/20:

Lower Key Stage 2 - Ellie, Alistair, Lyra, Lanz, Emefa and Omar.

Upper Key Stage 2: Salma, Aiden, Anabella, Adriano, Liya and Matthew

They will be working closely with Mrs. Moruzzi this year to build on the great work School Council did in 2018/19 on raising awareness of the damage that is being done to our planet by waste products and highlighting ways we can reduce, reuse and recycle plastic. During Science Week in May 2019, Nursery and Reception parents helped the children recycle plastic to create robots, pencil pots, plant holders and various other innovative items for use around the home or in school. The School Council in 2018/19 also introduced a project to recycle bateries which was a great success. We wish the newly elected school councillors well in their endeavours and look forward to hearing more about their plans for the year ahead. 

Our 'Living eggs' arrived in their special incubator on March 25th and we are delighted to say that all ten chicks hatched. Gaspard and his family looked after the chicks over the weekend and we were amazed at how much they had grown when they came back to school on Monday.  The chicks are leaving us today (Friday 5th April) and, while we are very sad to see them go, we are so happy that Mrs Mourino is going to look after them on her allotment. 

I was excited to take them home for the weekend (Gaspard) 
They are God’s creatures and we look after them (Kitty)
We look after them carefully (Poppy)
The chicks broke the eggs (Isabella)
They hatch, they are yellow (Harley)

On Thursday 28th February, 9 of our Year 5 & 6 pupils represented our school at the Westminster Schools annual swimming gala at the Queen Mother Sport’s Centre.  The squad swam well individually and in teams with our boys bringing home the gold medal in the freestyle relay and bronze in the medley relay. Marcel and Giacomo won individual gold medals in backstroke and front crawl respectively with Gabriel taking the  silver in the in backstroke and Jeremiah the bronze in butterfly. Congratulations to them and the rest of the squad.

Congratulations too to our Year 6 boys football squad for reaching the final of the boys football tournament last term, losing narrowly on penalties to St. Joseph’s. A special well done to Hugo for being the top goal scorer in the tournament. 

As part of our Eucharistic journey in this year of Adoremus , Mr Harrison set the pupis and staff a special challenge. Our task was to write and perform our own lyrics for the well known carol 'Oh Come All Ye Faithful' or sing the carol in a different way at our 'Oh Come All Ye Faithful' assembly on Friday 14th December. One of the many highlights of this special assembly was Class JD's performance of the orginal carol in simplified British sign language while JI's rendition of the hymn in Latin was very impressive. Please click on the links below to hear our Nursery and Reception pupils sinigng their wonderful version with the rest of the school joining in the last verse snd Class P singing 'Oh Come All Ye Loyal'. For more information on Adoremus please visit the Catholic Life of the School section of the website.

	Hands Up! Jesus is Born, Foundation Stage	[pptx 4MB]
	Oh Come All Ye Loyal, Class P	[pptx 3MB]
	Lyrics Ji and JL.docx	[docx 14KB]

Our first ever Shakespeare Fortnight here at St. Mary of the Angels saw the pupils spend the first two weeks of Term 2 studying the works of William Shakespeare. Each Key Stage took part in an exciting range of learning activities including drama, art, discussions and debates which resulted in some fantastic pieces of work. One of the many highlights of the project was the collaboration between our Upper Key Stage 2 classes and our youngest pupils in Nursery and Reception who delved into the romance and tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Key Stage 1 studied A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Lower Key Stage 2 studied Macbeth. Thank you to everyone who came to see the work for themselves when they joined pupils and staff at the wonderful Shakespeare Exhibition which took place after school on Thursday 15^th November. To find out more please click on the document link below. 

Shakespeare Fortnight & Exhibition

[pdf 4MB]

Corum Life Education’s ‘Life Bus’ will be parking up outside the school this Friday in preparation for our class and parents, sessions next week. The fun and engaging life skills sessions are aligned with the National Curriculum and support the school in deleivering aspects of the curriculum for Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE) and Citizenship.  The pupils will get the chance to meet Harold the Giraffe (the puppet also know as ‘Healthy Harold’) and friends, have discussions and watch short age appropriate films about healthy eating, legal and illegal drugs and their effects, the body and how it works, friendships and their influence, and how choices and behaviours can affect dreams and aspirations.  Click here to see the programme overview and find out more about the sessions for each year group. Parents and carers are warmly invited to come and experience the wonder of the Life Bus at 3pm on Tuesday 22nd May. 

Class R have been very busy this term learning all about ‘Helping Hands’. During their assembly they shared with us all they had learnt about the people in our lives and in our community that lend us a helping hand in so many different ways including police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, teachers, vets, taxi drivers, bus and train drivers, postmen and women, builders, paramedics, our families and Jesus. The key message was that everyone is unique and different but we all need a helping hand!

It was wonderful to hear the pupils in Class R share with us the jobs they woud like to do when they are grown up. We all joined Class R in thanking God for all those who help us and to ask Him to help us to always show kindness to all around us. 

Thank you to all the pupils and staff who joined in the fun of our  World Book Day parade on Friday 9th March. The pupils are always excited to see the books the staff have chosen and, once again, they did not disappoint. Foundation Stage staff kicked off the parade dressed as characters from Allan Ahlbergh’s ’Burglar Bill’, while Key Stage 1 decided on Jon Scieszka’s ‘The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!’ and Key Stage 2 staff chose ‘Peter Pan’.  Once we finally managed to get the staff off the runway, the pupils proudly paraded in their costumes along with their book. Our judges this year - Miss Hulands, Mrs Etingen and Mrs Lucchini - had the unenviable task of choosing their top three from each class but after much debate they finally came to a decision.  All those chosen paid a visit to Waterstones in Notting Hill to choose a book to keep and to select some books for the book corner in their class. Click on the link below for a list of winners. 

World Book Day Winners 2018 by Class.pdf

[pdf 214KB]

Class JJ’s assembly on Wednesday 7^th March was inspired by the pupils’ love of reading. All gathered were treated to a superb action-packed retelling of Peter Pan. It was wonderful to see how much thought and preparation had gone in to the acting, costumes and narration; it is obvious that Class JJ are a great team as everyone had an important role to play. They even managed to weave some tap dancing and music recitals into the performance which was very creative!  The acting was of such a high quality that when Paper Pan pointed to a ship on the horizon, Nursery pupils looked around to see where it was! Thank you Class JJ for  sharing your love of reading with us and reminding us of the most special book of all, the Bible, where the Word of God inspires our daily lives.

The myUSO website provides access to a range ot online resources to support learning at home and at school.

How to log on

Click on the myUSO logo on the left or go to http://my.uso.im/213-3532 to access the school's myUSO page. At the bottom of the page you will see three login buttons.   

In school pupils can log in by clicking on the blue  Who Am I login and choosing their class, name and then entering their 4 digit pin number. 

At home all pupils must use the green Easy Login option. Usernames and passwords were sent home on Friday 9th February. We hope you and your child enjoy exploring all the resources.

During Black History Week Foundation Stage pupils read the story ‘Handa’s Surprise’ by Eileen Browne. The story is set in Kenya and we had lots of fun reading about Handa's adventure as she brings a delicious basket of fruit to her friend Akeyo. We had great fun making our own African drums, tasting and drawing fruit that Handa had in her basket, sequencing the events of the story and writing about the cheeky animals that casued Handa so much trouble. To find out if Handa had any fruit left in her basket by the time  reached her friend Akeyo, you will have to read the story. Enjoy!

Pupils in Key Stage 1 enjoyed finding out about the life and work of Mary Seacole. Mary was a nure who was born in Jamaica. During the Crimean War (1854-1856) Mary  paid for herself to sail to the Crimea where she set up a hospital tto care for wounded British soldiers.  Mary even went out in the middle of battles to help others in need. We really enjoyed learning about Mary and agreed that she made a significant contribution to the lives of others and to history.  Click here to find out more about Mary Seacole.

Children in Lower KS2 found out about the life of American Civil Rights Activist, Ruby Bridges. Ruby was born in Mississippi, America and in 1960, aged six years old, she became the first African American student to attend an all-white elementary school in the the south of America. Children in Year 3 and 4  were fascinated to learn about Ruby’s bravery and determination to attend school despite the angry and loud crowds that gathered at the school in protest everyday.  

In Upper Key Stage 2, we reserached the life and achievements of the civil rights activist Rosa Parks .  It was on a US bus in 1955 that Rosa, a 42-year-old black woman,  politely refused to give up her seat to a white man, an act which was against the law  Rosa's life and story inspired others then and still does today. We also read the book "Child of the Civil Rights Movement" which gave us a greater understanding of what being a child was like during this period of history. Click here to find out more about Rosa Parks.  

This week Class P, Class G and Class F each took a pirate themed trip on the Floating Classroom. The children had an amazing time learning about different materials such as plastic, glass, fabric and metal, and investigating which materials float and sink which is quite important if you are thinking of building a pirate ship!.  A trip on the canal was also a great opportunity to think about the responsible way to dispose and recycle these materials to protect the environment.  One way of recycling is to use these materials to make something so the trainee pirates had great fun making their own treasure chests and pirate hats. To complete their pirate expedition the pupils found out what true sailors and pirates call different parts of the boat such as the stern (back),  bow (front), port side (left) and starboard (right) as they enjoyed a trip down the canal to Camden to see the Pirate Castle.  Miss Cox, Miss Percival and Miss Haughey are pleased to report that all were well-behaved pirates and that no one  had to walk the plank! Finally, the pirates would like to say a big  thank you to the parents who came along to help. 

On Wednesday 20^th September, an Olympian visited our school! Kurt Felix is a decathlete who competed in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games representing Grenada. Kurt won bronze in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is in London visiting family following a competition in France. Kurt is the uncle of Malachi in Year 6 who was was very proud to welcome his uncle to St. Mary of the Angels. 

During his visit Kurt spoke about the importance of persistence, dedication, commitment and passion when working towards a goal. He told us of his love for athletics as a child and how he developed his skills and mind-set to become a professional athlete. JI and JK were able to participate in a workshop with Kurt where he shared tips on how to improve their sprinting, hurdling and javelin skills.

Kurt is a fine example to all at St. Mary of the Angels of someone who strives to be the best he can be! Thank you Kurt (and Malachi).

‘It was amazing to see an Olympian come to our school. He actually spoke to us!’ - Jonathan

‘It was a great experience to meet an Olympian, and to be able to get his autograph. I loved it!’ - Nicholas

On Friday 15^th September, all of our Year 5 and 6 pupils participated in the the annual Legacy Games organised by Fit for Sport at Westway Sports Centre. The morning was action packed with a range of activities on offer for participants to pratice and develop their skills including javelin, hockey and netball.

In the afternoon session, selected children took part in individual and relay sprints. We were delighted that we came back to school with 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. 

All of the pupils who took part were fantastic ambassadors for the school. Well done and what a fantastic start to the sporting year for St. Mary of the Angels!