Latest News | St Thomas' Catholic Primary School

Year 1 Healthy Eating Workshop

Wed 23 Jun 2021

Year 4 walk along the river Tean

Fri 11 Jun 2021

Pentecost Sunday

Mon 24 May 2021

Here are Daniel and Isobel celebrating the Birthday of the Church on Pentecost Sunday.

School Crossing Patrol - Letter from Mark Deaville

Wed 24 Mar 2021

Parents, Members of Staff and Governors at St Thomas’

Dear Parents, Members of Staff and Governors

New School Crossing Patrol

I am really pleased to confirm that a new School Crossing Patrol has been appointed to assist parents and children in crossing the road at the top of Old Road on their way to school. The patrol is scheduled to operate from Monday, 19 April at the following duty times. Morning session – 08.05 – 09.00 Afternoon session – 15.00 – 15.50 These times may alter slightly as necessary once the Area Organiser has observed the footfall timing to and from the school.

The crossing location at the top of Old Road will enable parents to park on the free car park in the village, walk up Old Road and then safely cross at the top with a school crossing patrol. Road safety in our area and particularly the safety of our children is of massive importance and I am delighted to let you know of this development.

I would be grateful if you could share this information with friends and family etc.

If you need any further information or have any queries, please contact Deb Hunter on 01785 854396 or Deborah.hunter@staffordshire.gov.uk Stay safe and well.

Yours sincerely

Mark Deaville

Cabinet Member for Commercial Matters Staffordshire County Council

World Record Donation to Mary's Meals

Tue 09 Mar 2021

Painsley Catholic Academy has raised £120,000 for the global school feeding charity, Mary’s Meals, an amount that beats any other single donation from an academy. The impressive donation is enough to feed almost 8,000 children for a whole school year through Mary’s Meals.

Back at the start of the academic year in September 2019, the 15 schools within The Painsley Catholic Academy, pledged to raise £100,000 for their chosen charity, Mary’s Meals, in a campaign they called 20:20 for Mary.

The aim was originally to meet this target by the end of the school year in July 2020. Pupils and staff undertook a massive range of events including cake sales, sponsored silences, sponsored head-shaves, sky dives, mountain climbs, bike rides, car washes and porridge breakfasts.

Since then, Covid has pretty much changed everything over the past 12 months. Plans have had to be cancelled and put on hold and schools had to change how they operate completely. Despite all the challenges that the schools have faced, the students, staff and parents have continued in their support of this charity, finding ever more inventive ways of raising the cash resulting in a fantastic outcome.

Mr Steve Bell, Chief Executive Officer of The Painsley Catholic Academy commented, “Mary’s Meals is a very popular charity with our pupils. It is a simple charity and that is what we like. It costs just £15.90 to feed a child with Mary’s Meals for an entire school year. Research shows that children who eat Mary’s Meals: have more energy, feel healthier and happier, find it easier to concentrate and do better in school. The school that we were raising funds for is Kafumphe Primary School, Dowa, Malawi; one of the world’s poorest countries where many families live through farming, but struggle to grow enough food.”

Mr Bell continued, “Our pupils loved the thought that by raising just £15.90, they would enable a child to eat a nutritious meal every day and attend school for a whole year. However, then the pandemic began. We realised that asking for sponsored events was not feasible, and on March 23^rd 2020, our schools closed their doors to most pupils. However, the children and staff were adamant that they wanted to continue their fundraising efforts. The deadline for the target was extended until December 2020 with a view to raising as much as we could. This determination was underlined by the fact that the Kafumphe Primary School also had to close and the pupils would potentially not receive any food.”

During the pandemic, Mary’s Meals is providing children with food at home, until it is safe for them to return to the classroom. Parents and guardians collect the food from a central distribution point – observing all necessary hygiene and social distancing measures. Soap is distributed along with handwashing guidance to help support communities’ resilience to the virus.

Gillian McMahon, Director of Supporter Engagement and Income at Mary’s Meals, said: “We never cease to be amazed by the creative and committed fundraising efforts of the pupils and schools who support our work. The amount raised by Painsley Catholic Academy is so impressive. We are immensely grateful to everyone involved for their extraordinary fundraising efforts. This will help to transform the lives of children in Malawi so they receive nutritious meals, supporting them to feel healthier and happier and making it easier for them to concentrate in school. It’s clear that raising these funds have also proved life-changing in a different way for the pupils who took part, really demonstrating that so many little acts of kindness can make such a big difference. One of the core values of Mary’s Meals is that the charity believes in the innate goodness of people. There is no doubt that the pupils of The Painsley Catholic Academy have demonstrated this goodness.”

Mr Bell adds, “More important than the value of the fundraising, are the values that the pupils have learned along this difficult journey at this seemingly impossible time. We must look after each other regardless of where we live, our gender, our background, our colour, our faith. We are one human race in this battle together. The pupils, through their individual acts of kindness, will collectively be providing 7862 children with meals for a whole year.”

The celebrations of this achievement have had to be low key due to the current restrictions. However, the students who attend the schools within the academy, and the wider communities who have all played a part in the fundraising were delighted to receive a video thank you message from Founder and Global Chief Executive of Mary’s Meals, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow.

In this video, Magnus says, “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done, your incredible 20:20 for Mary campaign. You’ve ensured that the children at Kafumphe Primary School can carry on eating, so on their behalf, I thank you with all my heart.”

Staff Reading Quiz Answers

Mon 08 Mar 2021

And the answers are .....

Mrs Stone- Hodgeheg

Mrs Burnett- Aliens love underpants

Mr Jones - The enormous crocodile

Mrs Barlow - The giants toilet roll

Mrs Gidman - Squash and a squeeze

Miss Rawle - The gruffalo

Mrs Apsey - Magic faraway tree

Mrs Dunn- Lost and found

Mrs Deaville - Where the wild things are

Miss Leyland - Billy goats Gruff

Mrs Baxter - Twits

Mrs Shaw - Wonky Donkey

Mrs Green - We're going on a bear hunt

Mrs Ottley - Wind in the willows

Mrs Scott - Stick man

Miss Mason - Supertato

Mrs Hankin- Giraffes can't dance

Mrs Shufflebotham - The tiger who came to tea

Pyjama Day in School

Wed 03 Mar 2021

During the day, each class had a story read by one of the teachers.

NHS Hampers

Wed 03 Mar 2021

Thanks to the generosity of parents, the Ship Inn and Morrisons, we are continuing to donate hampers to various teams within the NHS. As well as the ICU, we have also sent hampers to the Royal Stoke Maternity Unit, Tean Surgery, The Old Vicarage Nursing Home and the JCB Vaccination Centre. We have other hampers going out shortly.

Photos will be posted as and when we receive them.

Painsley Catholic College to become Teaching Hub

Fri 12 Feb 2021

Painsley selected to provide high-quality professional development to teachers and leaders.

Painsley Catholic College has been selected to become a teaching school hub.

Teachers across the country will benefit from vital developmental support and expert advice, allowing them to improve a broad range of vital teaching skills, under plans announced by the Department for Education today.

The teaching workforce will get best-practice and expert advice on how best to engage with pupils, lesson planning, and classroom management, as the teaching school hubs programme is rolled out across the country.

Painsley is one of the 81 schools in England selected to be designated as a new teaching school hub.

Mrs Rachel Waugh, Principal at Painsley Catholic College commented, ““We are delighted to have been successfully designated as a teaching school hub. It is an important development for the continued professional development of teachers and leaders in education. We are thrilled to be at the forefront of training to ensure the highest quality of teaching and leadership in schools for the benefit of the staff and young people we serve.”

The teaching school programme was announced in 2019 and was followed by a procurement to successfully appoint six test and learn hubs.

The 81 new hubs will be rolled out in addition to those six existing test & learn TSH, meaning there will be nationwide coverage for the first time, and that every school in England will now have access to a local centre of excellence for teacher training.

81 hubs will be added in all corners of the country to provide high-quality professional development to teachers and leaders at all stages of their career and play a key role in helping to build up trainee teachers as they enter the workforce. This will further level up the quality of teaching, allowing every child to receive a world-class start in life no matter where they are born.

Each hub, all of which will be operational and helping schools from this September, will have its own defined geographical patch and will be expected to be accessible to all schools within that area, serving on average around 250 schools each.

NHS Hampers

Fri 12 Feb 2021

Thank you to all parents who donated money for the NHS hampers and to Morrisons and B&M in Cheadle for their generosity. The pupils made up individual bags for the F1 doctors in ICU at the Royal Stoke Hospital and a large hamper of goodies was also given to the department.