St Mary’s RC Primary School

Newsletter - Issue 21 - February 2021

Headteacher: Mr D Miller

Deputy Headteacher: Mrs M Ross

Chair of Governors: Dr J Marshall

Telephone: 01207 502657 First Day Response No: 07845788957

E-mail: blackhillstmary@durhamlearning.net

Website: www.blackhill-st-marys-rc.durham.sch.uk

Dear parents and carers,

We are now in the final day of the half-term and I’m sure that you are ready for a break from the normal

routine, I certainly am! Although the normal sort of half-term activities are very limited, I hope that you

can enjoy the rest and that your children will get a good break to refresh them for the second half of

term. We are very lucky to live in a part of Durham with such wonderful outdoor spaces and I’m sure you

will take advantage of that.

We are expecting to hear further news about the planned return to school on 8th March in the next few

days. The Government have promised to give Headteachers and schools two weeks’ notice of this to al-

low us to plan properly. As always, as soon as I hear anything, I will work through the guidance and expec-

tations and then inform parents of our plans.

Please can I remind those of you with children in school that should your child develop COVID-19 symp-

toms and subsequently test positive over half-term, you MUST inform the school so we can take any fur-

ther action necessary and inform any close contacts to self-isolate. Please inform the school via the school

e-mail address, blackhillstmary@durhamlearning.net which we will be checking regularly.

Have a good rest over half term and enjoy some family time!

A Call to Action

Durham Local Authority is encouraging people to connect with others in their commu-

nity, who are socially isolated, to start a conversation about mental health. We are

hoping that some of our families can help by getting creative! To send a message to

someone who is lonely, you could record a message, draw a picture, write a letter or

share a positive message about mental health by singing or using poetry. You do not

have to connect with someone that you have not met, you could also maybe write a

letter or pick up the phone to connect with someone you haven’t spoken to in a while.

For more information and to access lots of great Time to Talk Day resources go to:

https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved/time-talkday

or head over to the Stamp It Out social media pages.

Facebook: @stampoutstigmaindurham Twitter: @stampitout_countydurham

Abigail C Year R For always trying hard in phonics and maths and sharing your ideas!

Everyone For being amazing both online and in class. I’ve Year R

Darcey M Year 1 For always smiling in school. You cheer everyone up and make them happy!

Parents For all of your wonderful efforts and amazing work during the half-term. Year 1

JoJo S Year 2 For writing a super poem with lovely adjectives. Well done!

Everyone For being so well behaved, attentive and making school lockdown fun! Year 2

Heath S Year 3 For being able to use details from a story to write an amazing conversation.

Jacob Mc Year 3 For fantastic reading this week and super measuring skills in maths!

Oliver Q For a mature approach to home learning and for great weekly spelling scores! Year 4

Riley S For working with a smile and completing all work to a high standard! Year 4

Alice C Year 5 For having a lovely nature, encouraging your friends and being a superstar!

Kirk T Year 5 For great contributions during science work on life cycles. A great scientist!

Joseph Mc Year 6 For great enthusiasm, wider reading and general knowledge of your topic!

Scarlett He Year 6 For giving 100% in every lesson. We’re all so proud of your effort—well done!

Special Mentions in the Newsletter

We would love to see all your birthday pho-

tos, achievements, sports awards and acts of

kindness

blackhillstmary@durhamlearning.net

Name all e-mails BLOG

We couldn’t have a newsletter with-

out so please get involved and share

what is happening outside of school.

Happy 8th Birthday Alfie

Jacob was awarded ‘TREDS’ at

rugby on Sunday....

The Gospel in Church - Sunday 14th February

One day a man who had leprosy came to Jesus because he wanted to be healed. The man

knelt in front of Jesus and said, “If you want to, you can heal my leprosy.” Jesus was filled

with compassion and said, “Of course I want to.” Then Jesus reached out to touch him

and said, “Be healed!” At once the man’s leprosy disappeared and he was healed. Before

sending the man on his way Jesus said firmly, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Just go and

show yourself to the priest, and take an offering to the Temple as commanded by Moses,

and everyone will know that you have been healed.” But, instead, the man went and told

everyone what had happened. This meant that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but had to

stay out in the country. Even so, people would still come to him from everywhere around.

This is amazing Archie!! What an amazing Aztec home learning project

Grace's collage of Tenochtitlan

Olly's Aztec temple

Mikey’s rather impres-

sive Lego model of the

temple at Tenochtitlan

Museum of Fun Exhi-

bition by James

Great Lowery art by Noah Leo

Eliza Thomas

Eevee made her castle out of

old boxes and rubbish, she

spent ages adding stables,

pool and furniture.

Eve’s DT

Noah’s sharing poster Lily

Great project Rhys

Great writing Olly

Parent Governor

As we are transferring to the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust on 1st March,

our Governing Body switches to a Local Academy Board. I must therefore ask if any

parent would like to express an interest in this role.

Currently, we have an exceptionally pro-active parent governor, who under normal

circumstances, would be nowhere near the end of their term of office. The governor

has expressed a desire to continue in the role - credits include: sports week, young en-

terprise week, Halloween disco, fundraising, Rights Respecting steering group and helping us gain In-

vesting in Children Award.

Please email the school at blackhillstmary@durhamlearning.net no later than 3:15pm, Monday 22nd Feb-

ruary if you wish to an express an interest. If no expressions of interest are received the current governor

will continue in their role.

February Half Term

Unlike previous lockdowns, the DFE have announced this week that schools will

be closed to ALL pupils over half term. There will be no online learning over the

half term break and we hope everyone will be able to relax and recharge. We will

keep you up to date with any further details about the full return to school as

soon as we receive them. If you get bored during half-term, why not try:

Happy birthday Hope - we all hope that you

had a fantastic one!

Lydia in Reception became a big sister last

week welcoming baby Layla to the family!

Make a picture or model off your school Design a new invention

Draw what you think the future will look like Make your own comic

Draw or make a model of your dream pet Make up a game and play it with your family

Make or draw your dream shop and some things to sell Make collage of things that make you happy

Keep a dream diary to write or draw your dreams Do a self portrait

Today, on our news-

letter, we are cele-

brating Chinese New

Year. It is the most im-

portant of the Chinese

holidays, and is a time

of feasting with the

family, celebration, fire-

works and gift-giving. It

is a 15-day holiday, be-

ginning on the first day

of a new moon and end-

ing with the full moon

on the day of the Lan-

tern Festival.

Thomas and Emma Imogen Isabelle eating chow

mein

Ella with her dragon

and lantern Hope

Lydia has made her

own dragon and Chi-

nese lanterns

Isaac

Will

The year of the ox,

happy Chinese new

year—Eve Daisy

Kyle and Leo work-

ing hard, making

snow cubes for

their igloo. Good

stuff boys!

Noah’s snowball target Great snowboarding Charlie

Alfie out for a wintery

walk and snowball

fight with his Westy

dog Steve

John George

Snow Angel Evan

Josh

Millie

Great igloo Georgie

Leo Kyle

Drew

Hunter

John

Harper and Hunter

Chinese New Year in

Reception

Olivia having a sneaky peak!

Fantastic writing from Jonty

Mikey working hard!

Meet Lava Man - Marvel’s latest superhero

Valentine crafts in Year 1

Year 2 are scared of the Great Fire of London!

Year 2 Science

100 books to read before you leave primary school

How many of these books have you read? Can you think of any books that you have enjoyed that should

be on the list? Every week, we will list 10 books starting from 100. Will your favourite make the list?!

90. The Early Years at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton

Malory Towers is about everything school should stand for - friendships, lessons,

sports, plays and especially mischief. Darrell Rivers is off to a new boarding school, Mal-

ory Towers in Cornwall. But will she fit in there? And what adventures will she have?

89. The Skullduggery Pleasant Series by Derek Landy

Meet the great Skullduggery Pleasant: wise-cracking detective, powerful magician,

master of dirty tricks and burglary (in the name of the greater good, of course). Oh

yeah. And dead. Then there’s his sidekick, Stephanie. She’s...well, she’s a twelve-year-

old girl. With a pair like this on the case, evil had better watch out… has to find out

what happened to his father, who led the legion. So he sets out into the unknown, on

a quest so dangerous that nobody expects him to return.

88. I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child

Lola will not eat peas. In fact, she won’t eat carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, eggs, sau-

sages, cauliflower, cabbage or baked beans. And she will absolutely not ever NEVER

eat a tomato. But when Charlie explains that peas are actually green drops from

Greenland, and carrots are really orange twiglets from Jupiter, even Lola is tempted

to clear her plate…

87. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Milo’s extraordinary voyage takes him into such places as the Land of Expectation,

the Doldrums, the Mountains of Ignorance and the Castle in the Air. He meets the

weirdest and most unexpected characters (such as Tock, the watchdog, the Gelati-

nous Giant, and the Threadbare Excuse, who mumbles the same thing over and over

again), and, once home, can hardly wait to try out the Tollbooth again. But will it be

still there when he gets back from school?

86. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

The Tale of Peter Rabbit was first published by Frederick Warne in 1902 and endures

as Beatrix Potter’s most popular and well-loved tale. It tells the story of a very mis-

chievous rabbit and the trouble he encounters in Mr McGregor’s vegetable garden!

85. Click Clack Moo: cows that type by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

Farmer Brown has a problem. His cows like to type. All day long he hears Click, clack,

moo. Click, clack, moo. Clickety, clack, moo. But the problems really begin when the

cows start leaving Farmer Brown notes. First it was electric blankets… where will it

end? And when the animals don’t get what they want they go on strike, of course!

84. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from the branches,

or slide down her trunk… and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began

to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave and gave.

83. The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler by Gene Kemp

Tyke Tiler and Danny Price are best friends, much to the despair of the headmaster of

Cricklepit Combined School—because wherever the pair go, trouble is never far be-

hind. Stolen money, a sheep’s skeleton, fights in class...And somehow it’s always trou-

ble that Tyke has to sort out.

82. Face by Benjamin Zephaniah

In this startling debut novel from Benjamin Zephaniah, the author tackles the moving

and compelling story of a young man, Martin, whose life is completely changed when

his face is badly scarred in a joyriding accident.

81. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A pilot stranded in the desert awakes one morning to see, standing before him, the

most extraordinary little fellow. ‘Please’, asks the stranger, ‘draw me a sheep’. And

the pilot realizes that when life’s events are too difficult to understand, there is no

choice but to succumb to their mysteries. He pulls out pencil and paper.

80. The Tunnel by Anthony Browne

Once upon a time there lived a brother and sister who were complete opposites and

constantly fought and argued. One day they discovered the tunnel. The boy goes

through it at once, dismissing his sister’s fears. When he doesn’t return his sister has

to pluck up the courage to go through the tunnel too. She finds her brother in a mys-

terious forest where he has been turned to stone.

Good Bye

It is with a heavy heart that we must say good bye to Mrs Crawley.

After many years of dedicated service at St. Mary’s, Mrs Crawley is mov-

ing onto the next stage of her career and is joining Stanley Learning

Partnership. Our loss is very much their gain. Over the years Mrs

Crawley has added so much to our school - most notably playing a large

part of our recent Ofsted and Diocesan inspection success. There are

simply too many stories to list here, but I’m sure we all will agree that

Mrs Crawley has touched the heart of everyone at St.

Mary’s at some point during the years.

We all wish you the very best for the future. Goodbye

but never forgotten!

As you go my friend, you walk upon a bed of love,

On which our prayers are falling softly every day.

As you go, remember that our hearts will hold you

close.

You’re treasured, and we will cheer you on your

way.

As you go my friend, you travel with Christ at your

side.

His light will show a path and be your guide.

As you go, be hopeful that you’re following your

dreams.

We celebrate this new season of your life.

Current Guidance and Restrictions

Thank you to those parents who have been incredibly supportive in helping

us to restrict the number of contacts in school, therefore helping us to re-

duce potential transmission and keep pupils and staff safe. Just a reminder

from the current guidance:

Whilst schools are attended by vulnerable children and the children of criti-

cal workers only, where possible schools should keep group sizes small.

Parents and carers who are critical workers should keep their children at

home if they can. (page 25)