At St Mary’s we are very proud to have an active school council. Our pupils meet regularly to discuss things that are working well for them within the school and things that they would like to see improve. Our Councillors are not shy about getting their teeth stuck into their next project!
Democracy and Voting – Living out our British Values
Visit from our Local MP
You will never guess who visited us in Year 1! None other than the Labour MP for Newcastle Under Lyme, Adam Jogee. Adam was blown away by our letters and wanted to come into school to meet the children to talk about being an MP. He spoke about what inspired him to follow this vocation. The children asked thought-provoking questions to gain a better understanding of his childhood and his job as an MP. He loved their portraits and took the time to look at each one before leaving a personalised message for the children. We hope to see him at St Mary’s again soon.
Election Preparations
We’re getting election ready at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School! In the build up to 4th July, the children will be learning about the UK’s democratic voting system and how our government is formed.
Stay tuned for our whole school General Election Day when the children have their say on which political party they would vote for. ✅
St. Mary’s Question Time
Year 6 took part in a live TV debate and acted as members of the five main political parties. The children were great at putting their party’s manifesto policies forward during the show. They tackled key issues such as: education, the NHS, police, energy and finally, tax. 👮♀️🚑🏠
Manifestos
The children decided which party they wanted to vote for after reading party manifestos. They then visited our very own polling station. It was great for them to experience voting on replica ballot papers just like in they would in real elections!
The children learnt about how we do something called a secret ballot that then gets counted to reveal a winner!
St Mary’s General Election Results
The ballot boxes have been opened, the votes have been counted and the results are in… The children voted for the next Prime Minister to be Keir Starmer!
What a day it has been… thank you to everyone who has made our election a success. The children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about democracy and why it is so important to go out and vote for their future. Ask them about it when you get home!
Our Visit to Parliament
💂What a fabulous trip to London! 💂
Our Year Six School Councillors and their Laudato Si companions travelled down to the capital city today! They went to meet our Local MP, Adam Jogee for Newcastle-under-Lyme , and bumped into a number of political VIPs along the way.
Our first meet was with Caroline Nokes MP, where we got an opportunity to ask about her new role as Deputy Speaker.
Next stop was Nusrat Ghani MP – the first non-white Deputy Speaker of the House. Here, we had a chance to share our ideas about how to prevent the climate crisis from getting worse. She was very impressed with our ideas about the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle and our mission to care for our common home.
All this talking made us quite thirsty so we had our first pitstop in the House of Commons private tearoom. Adam treated us to a spot of tea…which to our surprise, was poured into our very own Staffordshire pottery! Here, we quizzed Adam on why he became an MP, what he finds most difficult about the job and how he felt when the election results were announced.
We ended our visit to Parliament with a tour of the houses and had a sneaky peak into today’s Question Time in the chamber. We heard MPs speaking on the recent effects of Storm Darragh and how well our emergency services dealt with the devastating effects.
Our time in London was topped off nicely with an educational trip on the City Sightseeing Bus, where we saw Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace and many more of the famous sights.
Thank you to Adam for this amazing experience and thank you to the PTFA for part-funding the trip. What a way to achieve one of our ‘100 Things to do at St. Mary’s’… We’ll definitely sleep tonight!
Our Leadership Team meets Prospective MP
Our student leadership team met prospective MP Adam Jogee today. He was really keen to get to know the young people of Newcastle-under-Lyme and listen to their hopes for the future. The children gave his team a tour of the school and shared all of the things that they love about it! Adam was so impressed with how articulate and confident the children were.
Thanks Adam for visiting our school and thank you for the complimentary Facebook Post afterwards!
Newcastle-under-Lyme Christmas Tree Project
New Additions to our Family!
Introducing the newest members of our St Mary’s family. We now have 5 hens living at school with us.
To mark International Womens Day today, the school council decided to name them after inspiring women. We would like children across the school to do some research and put forward suggested names, with some information about their chosen woman, so that we can have a vote and name our chickens. Please pass on your suggestions to your class school council member or Pauline. #internationalwomensday
⭐️ Celebrating Black History Month! ⭐️
What a wonderful month of learning and celebration across the school. From creating artwork inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and Gee’s Bend freedom quilts, to exploring sporting legends like Mike Tyson and Maggie Alphonsi in PE, our children have been inspired by remarkable Black individuals. In Science, children researched influential Black scientists and inventors, while reading lessons explored the history and experiences of the Windrush generation and story times celebrated inspirational figures such as Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali.
Throughout our celebrations, children have deepened their understanding of British Values and Protected Characteristics, recognising the importance of equality, mutual respect, diversity and ensuring everyone has the opportunity to succeed.
#britishvaluesstm #pestm #sciencestm #readingstm #artstm …
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🌍💚 Year 1 Catholic Life Pledge – Caring for God’s Creation 💚🌍
Our Year 1 children have been putting their Catholic Life Pledge into action by taking part in a litter pick around our school grounds. 🧤🗑️
Through this act of kindness, the children have shown what it means to be good stewards of God’s creation, caring for the beautiful world God has given us. They demonstrated love and compassion by taking responsibility for our environment and helping to keep our school a clean and welcoming place for everyone. 🙏🌱
The children have also created colourful posters to raise awareness among our St Mary’s children about the important part we all play in looking after our environment. They are helping to spread the message that even small actions can make a big difference! 🌼🌎
🇬🇧 Link to British Values – Mutual Respect
This pledge links beautifully to the British Value of Mutual Respect, as the children are learning to respect our shared environment, our school community and the world around us. By working together, they understand that we all have a responsibility to care for the places we share and to show consideration for others, both now and in the future.
We are so proud of our Year 1 children for living out our Catholic values and showing that, together, we can make a difference! 💚✨
#year1stm
#catholiclifepledgestm
#britishvaluesstm …
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Year 6 Knife Crime Awareness
Today, our Year 6 children welcomed the police into school for an important and thought-provoking session about knife crime and personal safety.
The children learnt about the dangers of knife crime, how to keep themselves safe and what to do if they ever find themselves in a situation where they feel in danger around knives.
We also explored the tragic case of Germaine Goupall, reflecting on the devastating impact his death had on his family and loved ones, as well as learning about the consequences faced by those responsible for his death – linking in with our learning around the British Value, Rule of Law.
These important conversations help our children understand the real-life consequences of knife crime, the importance of making safe choices and knowing when and how to seek help from a trusted adult.
A huge thank you to our local police for taking the time to educate and support our pupils. 💙
#year6stm #britishvaluesstm …
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🌟 Introducing our Year 6 Leadership Team! 🌟
We are absolutely delighted to announce our newly elected Year 6 Leadership Team!
Choosing our leaders was a thoughtful process, taking into account a range of important factors, including attendance, dedication to school life, pupil votes and staff views. Our pupils had the opportunity to make their voices heard, putting the British Value of Democracy into action by voting for the candidates they felt would best represent our school community.
We are incredibly proud of all the children who put themselves forward and showed such enthusiasm, ambition and a desire to make a difference.
A huge congratulations to our newly appointed team:
Head Boy: Noah
Head Girl: Jewelmary
Deputy Head Boy: James
Deputy Head Girls: Paisley, Kiesha and Isabelle
We know that these children will be wonderful role models for our school, leading with kindness, responsibility and compassion as they help us to live out our school mission: “Learning to live out our calling with compassion and love.”
We cannot wait to see all the fantastic things they achieve in their leadership roles this year. Well done, everyone! We are so proud of you! 💙
#year6stm #BritishValuesstm #historystm …
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📚👑 A royal reading gift for Year 6! 👑📚
Our Year 6 children have received a very special gift from Her Majesty The Queen: a special edition of Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell! 🎁
To celebrate the National Year of Reading 2026, this wonderful initiative is giving every Year 6 child a book to inspire a love of reading and bring children together through the joy of stories.
Thank you, Your Majesty, for this thoughtful Christmas gift. We can’t wait for the adventures to begin! ✨🐉
#readingstm #readingforpleasurestm #britishvaluesstm #year6stm …
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A huge well done to all of our amazing Year 6 children who confidently put themselves forward to be part of our School Leadership Team. We are incredibly proud of each and every one of them for speaking so eloquently about their qualities and why they would make fantastic representatives of our school. 👏🏻👏🏼👏🏽👏🏾👏🏿 #oracystm #year6stm
Linking to the British Value of Democracy, children in Years 4, 5 and 6 then had the opportunity to cast their votes for the candidates they felt would best represent our school community. A wonderful example of democracy in action! 🇬🇧 #britishvaluesstm #year4stm #year5stm …
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