School Bell St Philips Catholic
Originally published Winter 2020, by Lucy Horne Headteacher
St Philip’s Catholic Primary School
WE are delighted to be back in school as a whole school community. Routines and structures are different but the children are delighted to be back with their friends and to be learning.
Curriculum learning:
Year 2 extended their topic learning on ’Explorers’ by enjoying a ‘Space Day’. Their classroom was converted into a rocket and they learned about astronauts and how they travel in space. They even tasted ‘rocket food’. Their learning involved Science, History and Literacy. They had great fun and learned a great deal.
Year 3 visited Butser Farm this term as part of their learning on ‘The Stone Age’. They were blessed with a beautifully sunny, crisp day. The children were able to create chalk carvings, excavate for bones and Stone Age clues to find out about life in the Stone Age, they learned the skill of wattling and made clay pots. It was lovely to see a coach parked up outside the school and to facilitate a trip which was Covid secure. We miss lots of the day-to-day activities we took for granted pre Covid-19.
Community links
Every year we celebrate Diocesan Grandparent Week in school. We have, for several years, invited grandparents into school for a Grandparent tea and cake session. This year, we have been unable to host the event but we still wanted to recognise how much our grandparents do for their grandchildren. Each class, therefore, decided they would make something. Some classes wrote a poem, others painted pebbles, some made cards and others wrote letters.
Two brothers heard that a local animal sanctuary was struggling for funding during the pandemic. They wanted to do something to help so they set their mind to raising funds. They washed cars, made cakes for sales, watered gardens and cycled 7km on a sponsored bike ride. Leo and Zac raised a huge £800 for the ABC animal sanctuary in West Chiltington. Well done boys, a real sense of achievement and a great example of how small things can make a big difference to others.
Two children in school decided to raise funds, with their family, by completing a ‘Race for Life’. Both Emilie and Dylan raised funds for a cancer charity. They raised over £500. Well done to you both for thinking of others and making your contribution to those who need help. You are indeed ‘Good Samaritans’.
We have been very fortunate this term to be able to welcome various, socially distanced, visitors into school for our assemblies. Pastor Steve, from Arundel Baptist Church, Roger Purdom, from The Parkside Church Littlehampton, Pastor Hugo from Yapton Free Church and of course Fr Charles from Storrington Parish and Canon David from the Cathedral. The children are very fortunate to be able to learn from such a wide variety of sources, each one teaching the importance of loving one another and showing kindness.
Our families at school are again collecting gifts in shoe boxes to send off to children in Eastern Europe where Christmas gifts are few. The ‘Love in a box’ initiative
is run each year by Arundel Cathedral and each year, families from our school send about 50 gift boxes full of surprise gifts to those who are not as fortunate as many in our community.
In September, we were invited to take part in the Arundel Tidy Up event. Due to current restrictions, we were unable to take part with others in the town but, instead, each class chose an area around the school to tidy up. The school allotment, the field, the playground, front of school and across the road by Arundel Park all had a litter clear. The Mayor kindly came to school to thank the children who were all working together in their bubbles and also helped out with a few items of litter.
Outdoor learning
During the Summer months, we had some works carried out in our Forest School area to prepare for the Autumn weekly Forest School activities. The removal of some trees made for some great den making resources. Our Forest School leader, Stuart, has already run several sessions with different class bubbles and the children have thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to take their learning outside.
Our school allotment again produced a very successful harvest this Autumn. The children were able to go and collect marrows, potatoes, runner beans and pears. Thanks as always to our Arundel resident volunteers Bob and Geoff.
Year 6 have been making off site trips to the local area this term. Their first trip was to Arundel Park where they extended their learning on Michael Morpurgo’s ‘The Butterfly Lion’. They investigated Chalk Grasslands in our locality- looking at the unique flora and fauna of this area of the South Downs National Park, on our doorstep. They studied the layers of the ground to identify the chalk (which forms a key element of the story) and then found small flint samples which they compared with the chalk, once back in the classroom. The children learnt the motto ‘Take only photographs; leave only footprints’ as a way of protecting our environment whilst still enjoying it. They are now in the process of researching their work and creating information posters to evidence their learning.
Finally…
Our Open Day for prospective parents of children starting school in September 2021, cannot happen physically this year due to WSCC Covid-19 advice. However, we have a short welcome video and lots of pictures of the school on our website https://www. stphilipsarundel.org.uk/
You can also contact the school office on 01903 882115 or office@st-philips.w-sussex.sch.uk to book in a phone call or Zoom meeting with Lucy Horne, head teacher.