It has been a busy start to the term!
In a combination of Health & Wellbeing, Science & Technology, and Maths & Numeracy, we have been learning about things that are included in common foods, such as sugar, salt and bicarbonate of soda. We turned the outdoors into a laboratory on a chilly day in January, to find out how well these solids dissolve. Ensuring a fair test by measuring out the same amount of water and adding a spoonful of each substance, we used a stopwatch to time how long each dissolution took. It was very interesting, lots of fun, and a little bit messy!
Love was in the air this term as we celebrated Dydd Santes Dwynwen. We learnt the story of this saint and combined our Expressive Arts and Humanities as we thought about God’s love and made cards for those we love.
Stories and illustrations continued within Language, Literacy and Communication as we met the lovely author C.M. Lewis, who visited us and spoke about her book Quill and the Last Generation. We discovered how Welsh myths, legends and fairy tales inspired Caryl, and created our very own story-book heroes.
03.03.26 was an unforgettable morning in Oswestry with our friends from Llyn Cau and Dermot O’Leary, as part of the National Year of Reading.
What a truly inspiring and joy-filled event! From the very first moment, Dermot had everyone hooked, asking brilliant questions, sharing stories and chatting so warmly with the children. The room was buzzing!
Dermot told us all about how his love of reading began with trips to the library with his dad. Picture books were his first favourites, and as he grew older, he fell in love with the wonderful world of Riakd Dahk – especially Fantastic Mr Fox, because Mr Fox was such a rogue!
We also discovered that Dermot’s storytelling started early — he used to write his own stories and sell them to his neighbours for 5p each. Entrepreneurial and creative!
Many of Dermot’s books are inspired by animals and his own life experiences. His much -loved Toto series was sparked by a trip to Italy and a very special cat he met on holiday – the inspiration behind Toto, the brave (and blind!) ninja kitten. Writing from the perspective of a blind cat comes with its challenges, as Dermot explained – sometimes he has to go back and edit, reminding himself that Toto wouldn’t have seen certain things!
We also learned about the beautiful illustrations that bring the stories to life, created in collaboration with illustrator Nick – who met the real-life cats before capturing them so perfectly on the page.
One of the highlights was our fantastic “draw along” session, where we learned how to draw Toto the ninja cat – budding illustrators in the making!
Branwen had the honour of askin our school question: does Dermot prefer being a radio presenter or an author? A tough one to answer!
To top off a brilliamt morning, we will each receive a signed copy of his newest book, Toto and the Pirate Treasure Hunt. We can’t wait to dive in, we’re expecting plenty of laughs!
A huge thany you to Booka Bookshop and Oswestry School for making this wonderful opportunity possible, and to everyone who helped ensure each of us received a free signed book.
In March, pupils from Years 1-6 attended the after-school Bible Craft Club with Louise Youens.
The children created a beautiful prayer tree where everyone could add their own prayers and help decorate it, and they also made lovely sun catchers. They really enjoyed listening to Louise share a short story about the importance of prayer, linked to the Lord’s Prayer. ✨
It has been such a special time, and the children absolutely loved it. We are so thankful to Louise for generously sharing her time and expertise with us. We’re already looking forward to welcoming her back to St Mary’s in the coming months to do more work with the children. 💛
