Today we celebrated CAFOD Family Fast Day. The theme was brighten up. We celebrate all the wonderful colours they are in our season at the moment and the food that the Harvest produces. We also thought about how we can brighten up other people’s lives by giving them food that they don’t always have. We donated food to the local food banks as well donating to CAFOD so they can help hungry people in other countries.
There is no better way to spend a warm September morning floating along the Tees. These lucky Year 5 children spent the morning bell-boating and enjoying the sights that our local river has to offer.
Today, we simply gathered to pray and reflect on how we can bring peace to our homes and our school. Our Mini Vinnies led us in prayer.
Last Friday, the whole of Year 6 went to ‘Crucial Crew’ in Billingham. ‘Crucial Crew’ is a multi-agency safety event for children aged 10-11 years old.
Whilst it was a lot of fun and an exciting event, the serious messages about personal safety and dealing with emergencies were strongly conveyed.
During the visit we were given lots of useful advice and information from Stockton Police, SBC Road Safety Team, RNLI, Cleveland Fire Brigade, Northern Gas Networks, Northern Electric and The Anti-Social Behaviour Team.
We learned a lot about how to keep ourselves and others safe…
We would like to thank all those involved for giving us such important advice in a fun way!
Last Sunday, 9th September, a group of pupils, parents and staff attended a service to remember the brave RAF servicemen that gave their lives for our country in the Second World War.
The service was held at the RAF pilot statue on Thornaby Road at 12.30pm and was attended by members of the public, ex-servicemen, local dignitaries such as the Mayor of Thornaby and pupils from our school!
The children from St Patrick’s were very respectful and joined in all the prayers and hymns. At the end of the service two of our pupils laid a wreath made from poppies at the foot of the statue.
The service was very moving and poignant – a particular highlight was the playing of ‘The Last Post’ and the subsequent silence in honour of the brave men that had died in the war.
Our children, parents and staff appreciate the sacrifices that were made for us. We will remember them…in our prayers.
After much needed sleep and a hearty breakfast, we were ready for an exciting day out at Walibi World. Our Steady Eddies and our Fast and Furious groups split off into groups to squeeze in as much fun as they could in a day at the theme park. The Fast and Furious group really lived life in the fast lane after defeating Goliath and conquering the Rio Grande (Mr Ryan dares not to go on these anymore after last time), whist the Steady Eddies enjoyed themselves on Los Sombreros and the parks. A few children were maybe a little too daring after venturing onto the Terrifying Tomahawk (yes, this was all risk assessed!) and we all needed to cool down in the rapids and the log flumes to cool down. Seen as though we were already soaked, we could think of no better way to end the day – a water fight. Some children came back drenched, and some children and teachers handed some long awaited revenge with the water cannons! Time for a journey back to the hotel to chill out, fuel up, and watch some World Cup matches!
Lions, and tigers and bears, oh my! Today called for a journey to the zoo. After topping up the sun cream – we set off for a fun-filled day, and no doubt lots of frequent comparisons of Mr Conwell and the gorilla. Rotterdam’s Blidjorp Zoo had everything we could imagine: polar bears, giraffes, lions, zebras and meerkats (yes, there was quite a few impressions). Jackie set the standards high with his joke of the day competition “What do you call an alligator in a vest? An investigator!” only to be beaten by Caydee’s “Where do you find a dog with no legs? Right where you left it!” in an intense Twitter poll. Home time was very much needed and an evening in the games room was in order.
Our last full day today! First off, Ajax stadium. We know that it’s not quite the Riverside, but nonetheless, Ajax Stadium was an impressive sight. We like to think Ajax’s future summer transfer fees will be partly funded by St Patrick’s after a trip to their gift shop. Who knows? They may even be after some of our Year 6s for their youth squad. After a flying visit to Ajax, we set off for the picturesque town of Volendam, a beautiful fishing village in the North of Holland. Fish and chips for lunch we think – it doesn’t get any better than this. Now, it looks like there’s time for one last journey to the beach to make the most of the scorching weather. Tonight was the night Mr Ryan had been waiting for – bowling. After many claims that he was St Patrick’s undefeated champion, the children (and Mr Sherrington) set out to prove him wrong. The look on his face was priceless after being beaten, he now claims “Well no one would beat me at chess!”
Home today! I’m sure all of the parents are excited for their children’s return – but first, Duinrell! Surely we could squeeze in a quick trip to splash about in the water park? Children grabbed their dingies and flew around the rapids and plug hole slides at incredible speeds, surfed the wave machines and soaked their friends with the water guns. What a lovely last morning. We still had time to enjoy the pirate ships and the slides before heading off to the airport and get this lot home to their families!
What a wonderful week we had. Lots of schools ask why we take the children away. In many ways it’s hard to explain but I think these photos show better than words can. We have the privileged position to be part of these children’s lives and we have the chance to help create and share special memories. We don’t know what the future holds for ourselves or these children, but we do have the gift to shape the present and to give these children memories to take with them forever. We have the chance to help these children look back and know they were happy and that they were cared for. They will hopefully look back at their time at school and realise they achieved academically all they possibly could, but also realise that they developed as people and they learnt to share friendship and special moments with each other. Our memories and childhood experiences shape the people who we become. Childhood rushes far too quickly and we need to make sure we do all we can to hold on to it and to build special moments for the children together. We are truly grateful that our parents and governors share in these views and support us as they do. Thank you to the parents for bring up such wonderful children who are a pleasure to spend such a busy week with. We hope they enjoyed it and that they remember it forever.
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Class 10 have been studying The Tudors. As part of their history topic, they took a trip to Durham University to further explore the 1500s and the monarchs and wars within this period exciting period. The day started off with the children acting as archaeologists by uncovering ancient artifacts and finding out their true purpose (some objects were over 500 years old!). We discovered sundials, cannonballs, coins, and Jane Seymour’s seal. After our discoveries, we had a go at writing in an authentic Tudor style using a pot of ink and a quill! The Tudor alphabet was difficult to get the hang of, and quite frankly Mr Sherrington needs to try harder next time, but we had so much fun. Later, we set off on a Tudor Time Trail, where we went back in time exploring the historic sites of Durham. We found original Tudor houses, castles, Tudor mills and bridges everywhere around the city. A brilliant day with brilliant children.
Maths in Motion is an after-school activity where children get together every week to design and programme a race car. Extensive amounts of mathematical operations go into every feature of a race. The children have to work in groups to measure the angles and lengths of every straight and bend to decide what the safest maximum speed their car can approach these obstacles. The track distance and fuel is calculated, and their engine is tweaked to achieve the engine’s potential before the car is entered into the race.
Jackie, Evie, Tatenda and Daisy entered and got through the regional and national championships to qualify for the Maths in Motion World Finals. The finals consist of schools from all over the world, including China and Australia. After a very successful competition so far, the children arrived at the Riverside and connected to their computers to go live with all of the other world-wide competitors. The top secret track details were revealed and the team got to work, all the time under strict conditions which were being monitored live through a webcam. After an hour and a half, their time was up and they entered their car into its final race. Unfortunately, one minor calculation error caused the car to run out of fuel halfway through the race. Despite this, the team still finished 11th in the world out of all primary schools – an outstanding accomplishment.
The way these children worked together was an incredible feat in itself. To watch them work together as part of a team, allocate work, adapt to situations, make important decisions and continue to have such a smile on their face (despite being under so much pressure) whilst doing so was incredible. It is no surprise to see why such brilliant, hard-working children are competing with secondary schools all over the world when it comes to performing in this competition.
Congratulations children!
Over the past few weeks, there have been a numerous amount of athletic competitions held for track and field events. Our first competition was on the 23rd of May where all of our school’s top athletes entered into the competition for a chance to represent St Patrick’s on the big stage. We had so many winners in such a variety of events (relays, sprints, triple jumps, throwing events and more), this meant that we had plenty of pupils through to the regional finals on June 12th to face a tougher competition.
The day arrived and our athletes were off to Middlesbrough Sports Village to compete against the victors from other schools in the region. After a fierce competition we were left with two competitors, Jackie Lee and Maisie Wright, who won both of their events and had been selected to compete in the County Finals – unbelievable. With a throw of almost 7 metres, Maisie ended up placing 3rd for the county in the chest push. a fantastic achievement Maisie. Well done to all of the other athletes who gave such a fantastic effort in the earlier rounds.
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