Kung Hei Fat Choi! (Happy New Year!) To celebrate Chinese New Year, year 5 children looked at how some Asian countries celebrate this festival, including special Chinese customs such as: the Chinese zodiac, firecrackers, Chinese paper cuts, Chinese couplets and lucky money envelopes. To children also read the legend of Nian which explains many of the traditions used today.

To celebrate the year of the monkey, the children participated in some art and craft activities.

This Spring term we have access to a website called ‘Read for my School’ .Your child will have been given their own log in to take home to get the whole family involved . It is a great resource for you and your children to read ebooks together at home. We are using them in school for reading for pleasure, shared reading and guided reading too ! There are various categories of books to read with some very popular children’s authors . Some classic titles are included as well as more modern books. If you would like to join in yourself , just let your child’s teacher know and we’ll get you logged in !

This week’s football opponents were local rivals St John’s and the OLI crowd were out in force as lots of parents came to see both girls and boys teams in action.

The girls encounter was a league fixture, with 3 huge points at stake. After falling behind to a single goal, the OLI girls rallied back with two of their own to lead 2-1, Alexis Crieta showing off some silky skills to score a ‘Messi-esque’ goal, continuing her goalscoring heroics from last week against Wellesbourne Primary.

It could be argued that OLI’s main threat throughout the game was Akasha, and that her unfortunate early departure from the game resulted in St John’s scoring two more goals in reply to win a tight match 3-2, as Akasha’s passion and aggression was causing problems for St John’s all game. A massive well done to all the girls, especially Yusra and Isabel, who took on the toughest task of all, playing in goal!

On the next pitch, the boys had a friendly match, as ourselves and St John’s find ourselves in different leagues for the first time in a few years. Both teams played brilliant pass and move football, but it was St John’s who took the early advantage. OLI found it hard to get going and were caught on the break on many occasions, having Callum, Aiden and Sean to thank for last minute saves and blocks. Despite, the well organised defence, St John’s scored an early goal, direct from a free kick to make it 1-0. A sleepy midfield allowed some excellent 1-2’s to be played, as St John’s slotted home a second from a tight angle, giving ‘keeper Callum no chance.

Into the second half, OLI found their rhythm and were much more comfortable on the ball. Eryk replaced Callum in goal and found very little to do, other than a few routine catches. Neat footwork ensued, and soon an OLI goal would come, from the swinging boot of Connor Powell, tucking home after a lovely interchange between OLI’s forward players.

Sean and Michee found themselves on the end of hopeful St John’s clearances, to bring the possession back to OLI on many occasions. The final minutes were end-to-end, but as a ball fell kindly to Michee on the edge of the box, he struck a sweet shot in to the top left hand corner of the goal, making the last minute equaliser feel like a winner!

The boys and girls can be very proud of themselves this weekend, as they kept spirits high throughout the game and ensured that their attitude towards each other, the opposition and the officials was outstanding.

A great all round performance from our gymnasts this afternoon at Holy Trinity Primary School, Garston. We split into two teams, with two girls and two boys in each team.

Our first routine, was body management, ensuring that we showed control of our bodies through a variety of moves and holds. Secondly, we completed our floor routines, starting at one end of a series of mats, finishing at the other. Finally, we took on the vault, with two attempts per child. An approach, entry, travel and dismount was graded before the final scores were announced.

Our two teams placed 8th and 9th out of 11 schools, with some outstanding individual performances from our pupils in all areas. Well done!

 

Your child should have brought home a letter and sponsorship form, outlining our plans to raise money for a school minibus this year (the letters will also be on the letters home page of the school website, under the tab ‘News’). A school minibus will make transport to and from sporting competitions smoother and more efficient, as well as opening up more opportunities for our pupils in the local area.

The first fundraising effort, will be in the form of a fun run in Everton Park, on Friday 12th February. It would be great to see all the children raising some money, using the sponsorship form accompanying the letter. If parents and families can take these to work and/or pass on to friends so that we can gain as much sponsorship as possible! Sponsorship money can then be collected over half term and brought back into school with the sponsorship form, to your child’s class teacher.

We would also like to invite parents and families to join us at the run and the times are detailed below. We would ask parents and family members to come to school at the time allocated for their children’s run, to accompany them over to the park in a safe and controlled manner and back to school after the run.

Times:

Reception and Key Stage One pupils: 9.30 – 10.30am (x2 laps)

Year 3 and 4 pupils: 11.15 – 12.15pm (x4 laps)

Year 5 and 6 pupils: 1.45 – 2.45pm (x4 laps)

Route: the route takes in half of the upper section of the park. One lap equals 0.5km. Children in Reception and Key Stage One will complete 1km, with children in Key Stage Two completing 2km. The start/finish area is just through the gates of the park at the Northumberland Terrace entrance.

Thank you very much for your support and we hope to see you there with us!

On Thursday 28th January, I took a group of children to attend the  Liverpool Schools’ Parliament Programme as a part of Holocaust Memorial Day at The Liverpool Town Hall. Firstly, we had a look at the Holocaust related display in Hall of Remembrance. We were welcomed by Jeff Dunn, Director of Liverpool Schools’ Parliament and then prepared to listen to some stories from survivors of the Holocaust. The main points we agreed with and took away from the experience are:
•    We will stand up for what is right and speak out against what is unfair and wrong.
•    We will try to defend those who cannot defend themselves.
•    We will strive for a world in which our differences will make no difference – a world in which everyone is treated fairly and has an equal chance in life.
The event ended with three survivors sharing their stories and this was followed by some children asking questions. It was an endearing experience and the children really enjoyed it.
Miss Topping

Last night, our boys and girls football teams were both victorious against Wellesbourne Primary School. The girls won 3-1, with two goals from Akasha and one goal from Alexis and the boys ran out 12-1 winners, with goals from Kian, Sonny and Joel.

Both teams played extremely well and can be really proud of their efforts. Thank you to the parents who braved the cold to come and support too!

As part of this weeks lessons, Year 3 and 4 pupils will need to bring a pair of pyjamas along with their normal swimming kit (Thursday 28th January).

It was lovely to see so many of our Year Four children at mass yesterday to mark the beginning of their second phase of the With You Always programme. The children are invited to attend sessions held in the churches within the parish of St Sylvester for further instruction with Anne, our parish worker and Deacon Geoff.

Children will be celebrating the sacraments of Confirmation and Communion with their families and the parish community at the end of May.

A group of children from Year 5 and 6 were extremely lucky to visit Anfield Stadium today, for a tour of the ground, games, goody bags, lunch, xbox games, table football and a spectacular 9-goal thriller on TV!

All of the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the experience, showing themselves as great ambassadors for the school, a credit to the school and their parents – a great compliment from the Anfield staff.

A huge thank you must go to the staff at Anfield, including Mighty Red (mascot), for making the children feel so welcome and given them an exciting experience to remember. Also, thank you to Mr Byrne, one of our governors, who organised the trip with Liverpool FC.

 

Please visit our spring news page to read about what we are learning about this term, as well as seeing some finished pieces of work! So far, we have shared news about ‘The Vikings’, ‘Professor Fluffy’ and ‘PE’! We hope you enjoy following our progress!

This is a reminder to parents of the children going to Anfield Stadium tomorrow, that the trip times changed from the original letter. A slip was sent home this week with your child, to say that we are meeting at 11.15am, outside the club shop/Bill Shankly statue at the Kop end of the stadium. Your child will then need to be collected at the same place at 3pm.

Your child will also come home with an image consent form tonight, which needs to be completed, signed and returned to Mr. Garth. This is so that pictures taken by official Liverpool FC photographers can be used in their publications (i.e. Match day program).

Mrs Roberts is looking for a group of parents who will support the school in reviewing the format and content of the reports sent home. Due to the changes in assessment we no longer have National Curriculum levels however we still need to share our children’s achievements and progress in a parent friendly way.
If you are interested in working on this project with Mrs Roberts please contact school as soon as possible. Thank you.

Please visit our Early Years page to download this weeks newsletter for Nursery and Reception.

Play your part for a better internet!
Join the global celebration on 9th February!

Safer Internet Day 2016 will take place on the 9th February with the
theme Play your part for a better internet!

Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre the celebration
sees hundreds of organisations get involved to help promote the safe,
responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and
young people.

Here in school we will be doing a variety of lessons to help us all
learn about how to stay safe on the internet.We shall also launch a
Poster Competition 2016 using the line ‘Play your part for a better
internet’.
There are loads of resources and helpful advice on the website that may
help you as parents and carers to make sure we are all sae on the
internet.
http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/2016

As our current Year 6 topic is Vikings, we wanted to raise awareness of a Viking themed experience happening in Liverpool this weekend. ‘Meet the Vikings’ is taking place in the Liverpool World Museum on Saturday 23rd January 2016. It begins at 1pm and ends at 4pm. It is a free event and it is suitable for visitors of all ages.

For more information please see the link below.
Many thanks,
Miss Topping

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/wml/events/displayevent.aspx?EventID=26982

A pulsating match unfortunately ended in defeat for OLI, as St. Matthews ran out 14-9 winners. The early stages of the match were very scrappy with both teams trying hard to gain dominance in possession. As the game settles, the opposition scored two quick goals before Kian and Joel levelled.

This pattern continued, as OLI had to keep fighting back from a goal down until just before half-time. Two volleys from Joel gave OLI their 6th and 7th goals, putting them ahead for the first time in the game.

In the second half, spirits were high as OLI looked good for the two goal lead. Spirits were quashed, however, as St. Matthews scored 6 goals without reply to leave OLI 11-7 down. Two replies from OLI weren’t enough as St. Matthews scored three more to seal victory.

Last year, you may remember our Eco-council taking part in a community project with the Friends of Everton Park, sowing wildflower seeds in Everton Park.

Yesterday, two members of that Eco-council, were invited to St. George’s Hall to represent the work carried out by our school last year at a celebration with other schools and community partners. The Lord Mayors of Liverpool and Mancheter spoke to the audience about the importance of the project and thanking all people involved. The children then listened to two performances from local artists and got to have a tour around the exhibition currently available for the public to see in the hall.

They also got to take a look at the poppy exhibition outside and take a tour of the court rooms upstairs. We were delighted to be able to take part in this project and aim to do more work with our Eco-council in and around Everton Park in years to come.

Children in Reception, Year 5 and Year 6 will be having PE on a Monday, after the Christmas break. This will begin the first Monday back (4th January 2016).

Reception pupils will need to come to school wearing their school PE kits every Monday. Pupils in Year 5 and 6 need to come to school wearing their full school uniform, bringing their school PE kits in a separate bag.

Year 3 and 4 pupils will have swimming lessons at Everton Park, every Thursday morning (beginning 7th January 2016) and will need to come to school wearing their full school uniform, bringing their swimming kits in to school in a separate bag.

This afternoon, the school had a phone call to say say that we did such an amazing job fundraising for Sport Relief 2014, that out of over 10,000 schools that raised money, our school was in the top 500!

This is an incredible achievement from everyone involved, especially the children who did so much to raise money for a wonderful charity. Sport Relief are keen to know what our plans are for 2016 and are on-hand to help us with any ideas we may have.

After the New Year, the School Council will be tasked with collecting ideas from children around the school, as to what our focus should be in 2016. In 2014, we all children completed the Sport Relief Mile, with Key Stage Two children taking part in a cycling challenge in the school hall.

We hope to make Sport Relief 2016 an even more successful fundraising event and we will be trying our best to link with our partner school in Ghana, too. Get your thinking caps on and bring your suggestions to your class’s school councillors in the New Year!

Well done!