Information for Parents

Welcome to St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School where we are blessed with such a beautiful setting in which to learn and teach.

With our strong Christian ethos, our school aims to enable all our children to reach their full potential. We are committed to providing the best education within a caring, family atmosphere. In all we do, we aim to instil in our pupils an awareness of their own strengths, abilities, talents and responsibilities so that they can become good citizens in the world in which they live.

We have close links with St. Mary’s Church in Chipping and worship is an important part of our daily school routine. In partnership with parents we aim to build up children’s self-confidence and enjoyment of their time in school.

We have an active PTFA ‘Friends of St. Mary’s’ who are always working hard to support the school in many ways. Our committed and knowledgeable governing body support our school and play an active role in the life of our school.

We are very proud of our school and its achievements. Ofsted judged us to be ‘Good’ in every area during their latest inspection. We were also judged to be ‘Good’ in every area in our RE inspection.

We would love for you to come and visit us. You are welcome to come and see us during the working school day or ‘after hours’ if that is better for you. If you would like to view our school, please telephone the school office to make an appointment. We look forward to your child joining our school and we look forward to meeting you.

Mary Morris

Headteacher

Our School Day

School Starts: 8.45am

Lessons 9:15am – 10:45am

Morning Break 10:45am-11.00am

Lessons 11am – 12:00pm

Lunch 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Lessons 1:00pm – 1.55pm

Afternoon break – 1.55pm – 2.05pm

Lessons – 2.05 – 3.05pm

Whole school prayers in the hall – 3.05 – 3.15pm

Schools Finishes: 3:15pm

Assembly times:

Monday 9:00am – 9:15am – whole school assembly

Tuesday to Friday – 9.00am – 9.15am, class worship

Friday 2:45pm – 3:00pm – celebration assembly for parents, governors and friends to attend

Homework

The following information is taken from our Homework Policy.

At St Mary’s School we believe that homework should be a positive experience for our children, that homework should be meaningful and manageable.

Homework plays a positive role in raising a child’s level of attainment and in developing children’s skills as independent learners. It also helps them to develop good work habits for the future.

Homework provides the opportunity to reinforce or practice work already covered in class. It is helpful if parents could check each evening for homework set.

Homework is:

• a means by which a child can see just how much he/she understands and can achieve without the support of their peers or teachers
• a useful way to extend, develop and reinforce the learning of concepts or skills taught earlier in class
• a means by which parents can become actively involved in their child’s education

An outline of homework provision

Foundation Stage (Reception)

• no official homework set
• learning word cards / practicing reading and number skills / bringing in items from home to support the class topic or phonics work.

Sharing of stories is highly recommended.

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)

Reading –  books / word cards to practice on a daily basis. These should be read with their parent / carer for a minimum of 10 minutes every night. Parents are also encouraged to find other reading material from home or the local library to extend their child’s literacy skills further.

Spellings  – given out on Monday to be learnt for a spelling test on Friday.

Key Stage 2 (Years 3,4,5 and 6)

Reading books should be read for 10 – 15 minutes each night. According to their ability, your child should either read aloud to you or sustain silent reading to themselves for this time. Discussion about the content or to explain the meaning of new words should follow. Again, additional books from home or the local library can be used to extend their skills further. Even very able readers benefit from being heard by their parents / carers on a regular basis.

Spellings – weekly spellings will be given on Monday to be learnt for a test on Friday.

School Uniform

Our school uniform can be purchased from Mary Frances in Longridge and RVS Ribble Valley Supplies in Clitheroe. We do often have clean second hand uniform that has been donated back to school after a child has left or has grown out of it so please do ask if you would like to make use of them. We will be happy to help out.

It consists of :

Grey trousers / blue tartan skirt

White cotton shirt (long or short sleeved)

Blue jumper with school logo

Striped blue and yellow tie

Grey tights / socks

Our PE kit is:

White t’shirt with school logo

Blue Shorts

Black pumps / trainers

Outdoor track suit bottoms and hoodie for colder weather (black or blue)