St Winifred's Catholic Primary School

Today Janet Daby MP visited the school. She led a KS2 assembly, where she encouraged the children to be ambitious, to work hard and to not be put off by obstacles in their way! The children were given the opportunity to ask her lots of questions about her life and role as MP. The questions were very tough, it felt very much like Question Time! Janet then met with the School Council and had a tour of the school. Thank you to Janet for giving up her time to come and meet with the children.

St Mary's class have spent time this week using a variety of media to create poppies in memory of those who died in the wars. Chalk, clay, paper, tissue and paints were all used. To end the week, we created a poppy on a biscuit and the best part was eating it! Well done to everyone.

We are so excited to be hosting a book fair in school. There will be hundreds of books to choose from, with prices starting from just £2.99. The book fair will be in the main hall from 3.15pm to 4.00pm on 24th November to 29th November. Children will also get to browse the books during school time.
The school earns free books when you purchase. Come along and support our school!

Children from the School Council rolled up their sleeves this week to clear up the kitchen garden. Located behind the shelter, next to the playground, fourteen raised beds had produced a harvest of kale, squash, courgettes, butter beans, tomatoes, chard and radishes over the season. The children's task was to clear the beds, put away the bean poles and tidy the area ready for winter. They also learnt how composting works, filling a second bin in the process. The last of the courgettes were harvested and the children tasted nasturtium leaves, which they thought were very peppery.

The kitchen garden was built by parents three years ago, with funding from School Food Matters. It has been used by classes to learn about how to grow vegetables and some have had cookery lessons too. The next step is to continue growing vegetables in the spring to donate to a foodbank for local refugee charity, AFRIL.

Two police officers from the Metropolitan Police came in to run a session with our Year 6 children on the 31st October. As part of black history month, they engaged the children with an exciting quiz about Stormzy. The children then asked questions about the police, their role and responsibilities. The children were brimming with questions and thoroughly enjoyed the session.

As a means of developing understanding, we hope that this is the beginning of forging a relationship with the police and our community.

Thank you to Minerva and Susana, two of our Mexican parents, who created this lovely Day of the Dead display and altar. If you have a festival/celebration/ special day from your culture you’d like to share with the children at any point during the year, we would love to hear from you.

Thank you to all of our Reception parents who came to the coffee morning today! We hope that you enjoyed the opportunity to see what the children have been doing whilst getting to know the Early Years staff and other parents.

Happy half term everyone! St Winifred's Day is in our first week back! Put it in your diaries.

Children attended the annual Young Marketeers project in Borough Market yesterday, selling vegetables to raise money for a charity distributing food to fight hunger.

In April, the children had received training from the charity School Food Matters on how to grow vegetables in the kitchen garden. Throughout the summer term, they had been tending and watering the young plants. Finally, the children from Years 5 & 6 were able to sell their wares and raised an estimated £70 in the process! This will be donated to The Felix Project , which helps school children make sure they have a proper meal so they can focus on their learning.

The school kitchen garden raised beds were built by parents in the summer of 2021 and it has been used by classes ever since.

Come and see our fantastic Reception classes! Book yourself onto one of our tours by calling our school office.

Today, St Mary's class made bread rolls and garlic butter. They were delicious. The garlic was our very own that we grew in the reception garden. As you can see, everyone ate them and all went home full.

Next week is Sports Week! Don't forget PE Kits every day. Weather permitting, sports day will be on Thursday!

St Martin class were invited to join in the Community Dig project, as part of Greenwich Park revealed. The children were able to join in with a dig, that has revealed World War Two bomb shelters. They took part in cleaning and identifying artefacts they dug up, including coins and a tube of 1940s toothpaste! It was an amazing trip.

St Mary's class celebrated their feast day with a lovely gathering where they Crowned Our Lady in the Peace Garden. Children brought in flowers to lay around the statue and they shared prayers, hymns and spoke about how our Mothers are so important.

The young marketeers prepared the planters by weeding them. They sowed their seeds and watered them. The children will be looking after their crops, in order to sell them in October at Borough Market.

To celebrate the Feast of the Acension of our Lord children used everyday household materials to show what happened on this special day. On this day Jesus ascended up to heaven with the Father, using blue cups to represent the sky the children recreated this very special moment.

Up, packed and ready for the last activities of the holiday.

A few more…

D.I.S.C.O!

Fencing!

The giant swing!

Rise and shine Yr 6!

The last photo dump of the day! Children are exhausted after a long, exciting day! Bedtime for all.

A campfire to end the day! 🔥

Zip-wire fun!

Teamwork makes the dream work! 🤩

The sun is up and so are Year 6! Here’s to a brilliant day! 🤩

The first evening on school journey! Dinner had been eaten, the flag captured and everyone is happy!

St Elizabeth class enjoyed taking part in some Environmental Art/DT this week. They began their session by searching for and photographing faces in nature and objects around the school. They then created faces on the trunks of trees in the school playground using salt dough, chalk and natural objects. After photographing their creations, they used the salt dough again to makes beads that will be used in another art/DT project next week.

Today, St Joseph Class went to Woodlands Farm. They had an absolutely fantastic time. They loved learning about all the different animals and going on a nature walk! Thank you to all the adults that accompanied the class.

The first trip St Mary's class have been on this year where it hasn't rained! Their trip to Woodlands Farm was such a great success. The sun shone as they had an exciting farm tour and senses walk through the woods. They were able to touch the guinea pigs and sheep, then visit the cows, pony and hens. Everyone looked forward to their lunch and then they went for a walk through the woods. Some children thought they saw 'The Wild Things' from the book we are reading 'Where The Wild Things Are'.............
Thank you so much to the parents who came. Ms Murphy is sure the children will sleep well tonight.

Today, celebrations were in full swing. It was fit for a king! The children all looked marvellous dressed in their red, white and blue and party outfits. The hall was decorated with bunting and the tables organised into street party style tables. The music was playing and the special coronation menu was a hit! Enjoy the bank holiday! The Royal Family

All ready for our coronation lunch!!!

As part of the Young Marketeers programme, four children attended a training day at Borough Market. They were given a tour of the market, as you can see, they saw and smelt the fish stalls and tried strawberries and cream. They were shown what is needed to be a market trader. They were also given tips and techniques for sowing their seeds and tending to their crops by the Blue Peter Gardener, Chris Collins. This initiative is run by School Food Matters. The children now have to grow the produce in our kitchen garden to then sell it at Borough Market in October.

A huge congratulations to all our London Marathon runners! The children ran 1 mile on Saturday past Buckingham Palace and down The Mall. They had a great time and have been proudly wearing their medals this week! Well done to Owen, who ran the mile in just over 7 minutes and came 5th out of 220 children!

Next week we will be celebrating the King's Coronation. All the children are invited on Friday 5th May to come to school dressed in their finest clothes - fit for a coronation or in red, white and blue. On this special day the children will also be treated to a special coronation lunch. The Royal Family

Thank you to all our Easter bunnies who gave the children such a lovely treat. It was the traditional Friends of St Winifred's Easter Egg Hunt today! Every child skipped out of school today with an Easter egg... not many of them were in tact as the children were making their way out of school!!! Thank you to anyone who donated eggs or time to make this event possible. Wishing you all a very happy and holy Easter!

Each class has created a Station of the Cross! This week the children will be walking the way of the cross. I’m sure you will agree, the children have created fantastic representations of each station!

Last Friday, Mary our mother class went to Manor Park to explore the signs of spring. The sun shone so they made the most of the good weather, running on the grass playing games. All of a sudden, the grey clouds appeared so they headed to the library and shared books with one another. Tummies were rumbling, so off to the field to have a picnic. However, after 5 minutes, everything was packed away due to the heavy rain! Yet again, another trip where the weather has forced them to return!
Even though they returned to school, it was still a wonderful trip.