Year 6 Harvest Assembly
Thank you to Year 6 who led a whole school assembly. They taught us all about Harvest and asked us to think carefully about the farmers who produce food for our survival but still find themselves living on the poverty line. They also shared ideas with us about how we can ‘reap what we sow’ in our own lives.
EYFS Toy Collection for local charities
EYFS Supporting RNIB
Reception learning with CAFOD
Donations to our local foodbank
As part of our Year 1 pledge, we have collected and donated food to a local foodbank. We have a special link to this foodbank through one of our St Mary’s family’s The children loved dropping the food off and talking to the volunteers about how a foodbank works.
Year 2 donate to the food bank
This half term, Year 2 have been collecting and donating food to help those in need. We donated our food to the Alice Charity who were very grateful for our help and support!
Year 1 Samaritan’s Purse- Operation Christmas Child
The children decided they wanted to be charitable in helping others less fortunate. So we decided the best gift we could give was to raise money to pack shoeboxes to bring great joy to children on Christmas Day.
The children promised to do this in our Collective worship and took home their pledge to share with their families.
Charity Christmas Cards
For our first pledge, the children decided to raise money through their artwork. In creating their beautiful pictures and ordering such lovely gifts for their family, they have contributed to the £7 million pounds that has been raised by Funding Creations. This money is used to contribute to much needed funds and the children have had a fantastic time creating some beautiful works of art. Their families have also been able to benefit by purchasing some precious gifts to give this Christmas.
Marie Curie Charity Fundraiser
The children in EYFS decided that they would like to raise money for the Marie Curie Charity. The children created their own art work, inspired by the Marie Curie logo and they planted their daffodil bulbs which successfully grew into beautiful daffodils. The children then sold their art work and the daffodils to their parents and friends of the school. All of the money raised was sent to the Marie Curie Charity.
Children in Need Charity Fundraiser
The children in EYFS raised money for the children in need charity. The children wore their own clothes and took part in a variety of fun activities for children in need.
NSPCC number day in Reception
The children supported the NSPCC charity by coming to school dressed as a their favourite number and taking part in number activities throughout the day.
Year 1 Donated to The Foodbank
A big thank you to our wonderful Year 1 families. We have been overwhelmed by your kindness and generosity in supporting our Catholic Life pledge to make a food donation to those in need in our local community. The children helped us to fill six bags of food, which we have donated to the food bank. Thank you so much Year 1 ! Your donations have been greatly received and will make a real difference to those people in need.
Love Thy Neighbour
Year 1 supported our local Care home by raising money for through the ‘Love thy Neighbour’ competition. Well done to Mason in Class 2L. He was the lucky winner of the chocolate hearts . There were 65 and his guess was the closest at 63. We are sure that the £80 raised will be very greatly received by Rowan Court Care Home. Yet again we cannot thank all of our St Mary’s Families enough for your supporting our Catholic Pledge.
CAFOD Family Fast Day
The children in Year 2 made a Catholic Life Pledge to raise money for CAFOD’s Family Fast Day. The children replaced one of their meals with something simple and reflected on how fortunate they are to be blessed with more than enough food to eat. The children brought in small donations from their family and made posters to raise awareness. In total we raised £90 for CAFOD
Golden Mile CAFOD Fund Raiser
Year 2 continued to support funds for CAFOD. For one of the Catholic Life pledges the children completed a sponsored golden mile run to raise money for CAFOD World Gifts. Fortunately the event took place during a lovely dry day! All donations received went directly to the CAFOD Word Gifts Project.
Year 3 Raising Money for Mental Health
Our children in Year 3 decided to carry out one of their Catholic Life Pledges to support Mental Health Charities. The children saved their own money that they would have otherwise spent on treats and instead donated the money for a greater cause. The children were given a full tube of smarties and they were asked to return it with 20p coins in. We were overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity that has been shown. Thank you.
Raising Money for Mental Health Charities – The Smarties Challenge
Year 4 Supporting the Rotary Club’s Purple for Polio Campaign
Year 4’s Catholic Life pledge has been to plant crocuses to support Rotary Club of Stoke-on-Trent Purple4Polio campaign. Rotary clubs help to plant millions of purple crocuses every year to raise awareness for efforts to end polio. When a child receives their life-saving polio drops on mass polio immunisation days, their little finger is painted with a purple dye so it is clear they have received their polio vaccine. Year 4 support the raising of funds for the Purple4Polio campaign by planting their own crocuses.
The Alice Charity
For one of their Catholic Life Pledges, the children in Years 4 and 5 wanted to help a local charity who supports families in crisis in our city. The Alice Charity asks people to be a ‘Community Champion’ and spread love and kindness by donating any resources to support vulnerable families. The children in Year 5 and their families rose to the call and donated extremely generously to this worthy cause. All donations were gratefully received.
Year 4 Singing Christmas Carols at the Holborn Centre
The children in Year 4 went to visit the Holborn Centre to spread a bit of festive cheer! They sang a range of Christmas Carols for the residents to listen to and also join in with. It
Food For Our Familes
Just like the children in Year 5, the thought of families struggling during the pandemic was a calling which was felt by many across the country. Led by one of our Year 6 teachers, Mr Bridgewater, our school wanted to ensure pupils don’t go hungry during the school holidays. There was concern that lots of household may have been unable to meet the threshold for food vouchers provided by local authorities. Using social media we promoted the Food for our Families campaign. The project gained rather over whelming support and with an initial thought that £500 may be raised, almost £4000 was raised. This enabled hundreds of households to receive a food package during the holidays.
Each package included around £16 worth of food to last a child for a week.
The packages included tins of soup and baked beans, boxes of pasta and rice, milk and orange squash, ham, cheese, yoghurt packs and bread. Families received fresh fruit and vegetables, along with some treats such as crisps and biscuits. We were even able to cater for people with special dietary requirements such as vegetarians and those who eat halal food. Mr Bridgewater and other teachers delivered the food parcels to families homes during the school holiday.
