Events

World Book Day 2024: All the children were invited to dress up as their favourite book character and took part in activities throughout the day, including a shared read with another class! It was so lovely to see everyone’s fabulous costumes!

Red Nose Fundraising Event: On 15th March, St Martin’s celebrated Comic Relief by wearing something red for the day. We raised a fantastic amount of £239.00!

The children took part in a drawing and colouring competition where they had to draw a character of their choice with a red nose! Well done to all our year group winners who each received a Certificate and Easter Egg Prize.

School Council Visit to Westminster Houses of Parliament: On 25th March the School Council had an amazing trip to London to visit the Houses of Parliament. As part of their tour, they visited different areas of the building. The Council looked at both the House of Commons and House of Lords. They even walked in the footsteps of the Monarch by visiting the King's robing room and also had the privilege of seeing Westminster Hall where the Queen lay in state. Alongside this, the children had an amazing workshop where they practiced how laws are voted for in the House of Commons. The pupils also had a visit from their local MP, John Penrose, who gave them a rundown of his job and very kindly answered many of their questions. The behaviour of the children was exemplary and they really did the school proud.

Year 6 Visit to John Wesley’s New Room: Year 6 visited John Wesley's New Room in Bristol on 14th March, as part of their history learning. They took part in a workshop and after lunch they went on a guided walk, kindly led by Michael Gorely from Historic England, where they were shown some of the places pivotal in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The children were exceptionally well behaved and staff at the New Room and Michael said that they were a credit to the school.

Year 3 and 4 Visit to Caerleon Roman Fort: The children had a fantastic time and were able to see Roman artefacts in the museum and try on Roman armour and helmets! They were able to take part in a role play workshop where they experienced what it was like to take part in a Roman banquet. The children enjoyed finding out about the Roman baths and exploring the Roman barracks.

Year 2 - SS Great Britain Educational Visit: On 7th March Year 2 had a fantastic day exploring the SS Great Britain as part of their Brunel topic. They had a great time exploring the ship with our tour guide and were able to ask and answer interesting questions. They got to see the iron hull and screw propeller which was very exciting and to top it off, the children were able to see Clifton Suspension Bridge on our journey to Bristol!

Garden Project: At St Martin's School we are working hard to create a Garden for our children to 'Learn, Reflect and Regulate'. We were lucky enough to receive a very kind donation from the Weston Freemasons from Athelstan Lodge 9033 for the materials, seeds, plants, and to create a new vegetable garden, pumpkin patch, sensory and herb garden.
WBro Ashley Brown said, "We have relished the opportunity to support young people in their growth and development through all forms of education. This Garden
project represents an opportunity to experience and learn about the natural world
around us, and even develop skills that can be used to benefit young people as they
grow themselves. As Freemasons we are always looking to support our local communities, and this was a project we could really get behind."
 

A team of girls from Phase 3 took part in an NSSPEA Football Tournament at Loxton Campus.  They did an amazing job representing the school and we were extremely proud of them all.

A selection of Year 5 & 6 boys were able to take part in a boys only Netball Festival at Sidcot School on 20th March. The morning started off with learning the rules and positions. Then they went on to play matches against multiple schools.
They won the first 2 matches and drew their last one. They all worked well as a team and really enjoyed themselves.

On 10th November, Year 5 children led a wonderful Remembrance Service for the school. They spoke clearly, sang beautifully and read some wonderful poems. Everyone was respectful and thoughtful during the 2 minutes silence. In preparation for the Service, all the Year 5 children researched the significance of Remembrance Day.

After, they wrote some very meaningful and sincere Ode to Remembrance Day poems and some were shared during the service.

Well done to the whole of Year 5. Everyone at St.Martin’s was very proud of you.

During Parents’ Evenings 17th and 19th October, parents and carers were invited to the Reception and Year 1 Dinosaur fossil and homework project display, all made by the wonderful Phase 1 children. The models and posters the children have made were absolutely fantastic - a display not to be missed!

'Girls on Track' 18th September: Miss Chedzoy was lucky enough to take 10 girls to an event called ‘Girls on Track’ - an initiative to inspire and encourage girls to consider the opportunities for women in the world of motorsport.

The girls tried their hands at becoming a motorsport production team, both in front of and behind the camera. They raced to see if they could match the times of a pit stop team changing tyres and went against the clock to test their reaction times using their collaboration, engineering and practical skills to make and code Lego racing cars.

In addition to these fantastic activities at Weston Museum - they were also treated to a trip to Weston’s Mercedes garage where they got to see Lewis Hamilton's f1 racing car used in 2021. Thanks to all the team at ‘Girls on Track’ and ‘Mercedes Weston’ for an amazing and inspiring day!

Sports Day Roundup:

Reception/1 Year 1 Results:   1st Place - Ash     2nd - Elm     3rd Oak

Year 2/3 Results:     1st Pace - Foxes     2nd - Hedgehogs

Year 4 Results:   1st Place - 4J     2nd - 4O

Year 5 Results:   1st Place - 5L     2nd - 5ME

Year 6 Results:   1st Place - 6C     2nd - 6U      3rd - 6JM

Year 4 Overnight Outdoor Adventure, Fernhill Farm: 

On 22nd-23rd June 2023, Year 4 children were invited to take part in an Overnight Camp Adventure at Fernhill Farm run by Osprey Outdoors.

They had an amazing time annd enjoyed activities such as wood collecting, orienteering and the legendary assault course. The camp staff commented on how well behaved and polite the children were. It was a great way to finish off the school year with each other.

Coronation Celebrations at St Martin's - Friday 5th May

The children had a fantastic day and took part in Coronation activities, as well as a crown colouring competition. We ended the day altogether in the hall for a tea party and singing coronation songs. Liz Ansell, the creator of a coronation song we have been practicing, came in to hear our fantastic singing. An amazing time was had by all! A huge thank you to the fundraising team for funding the flags and table cloths, and also to Mrs Mann for organising this special day!

Coffee Morning Event - 9am Monday 27th March at St Martin's School 

We will be holding a Coffee Morning event on 27th March, 9.00am at St Martin's School in our dining room. We hope you can come along and join us after the school drop-off on Monday morning.

Weston College will be sharing course information 'looking at skills to help manage the cost of living'. Please can you indicate below whether you will be able to attend.

World Book Day 2023 at St Martin's:  On 3rd March, all the children and staff had a fantastic time celebrating World Book Day and enjoyed sharing lots of stories.  Each class chose a book and engaged in book themed creative activities.  They all looked amazing in their costumes!

SPORT NEWS - Term 3:

Sportshall Athletics @ Hutton Moor

On 11th January a group of children attended the North Somerset P.E Association Sportshall Athletics event at Hutton Moor. St Martin’s were joined by 11 other teams from across North Somerset for a morning of Track and Field events. The St Martin’s team performed really well throughout the morning with some excellent results particularly in the track events finishing 5th out of 12 teams.

A big well done to: Natan, Isaac T, Joshua G, Edison, Thomas B, Bradley W, Daniel A, Muqeet, Roman H, Isaac S, Ella F, Amelie, Summer, Abigail A, Millie, Ebony, Miriam, Florence L, Kaitlyn F and Isla S.

Give It A Go Gymnastics @ Gemini Gym Club

On 18th January St Martin’s were invited to Gemini Gym Club in Nailsea to take part in a Gymnastics event aimed at giving children the opportunity to try a range of Gymnastics activities in a purpose-built facility. The children had the opportunity to try Floor, Vault, Beam and Bars. They all had a fantastic time using equipment that we aren’t able to access in our school curriculum.

Well done to: Demi, Imogen, Lava S, Lottie, Megan C, Daisy MS, Aila and Rendall.

Multi Skills @ Hutton Moor

On 25th January we were invited to take part in the North Somerset P.E Association Multi Skills Festival at Hutton Moor which gave children opportunities to try a range of sports activities that aren’t easily accessible. Throughout the morning the children tried Fencing, Boccia, Malky and were involved in a dance activity creating a short dance to music from The Greatest Showman. All children were presented with a gold medal for their efforts.

Well done to: Lucas B, Nechirvan, George W, Toby T, Dexter C,

Tristan, Louis P, Dylan S and Rory.

BRISTOL OLD VIC TOURING THEATRE SCHOOL: On 23rd November, the whole school enjoyed a visit from BOVTS who performed 'Wilda and the Winter Whirlwinds'.

It was fantastic for the children to all experience live theatre in their own school and we are sure the children have all been inspired by this experience.

CHILDREN IN NEED - Fundraising Event:   

The staff and children had a lovely day supporting Children In Need on Friday 18th November.

Each class had a 15 minute slot in the school hall to take part in activities; skip-a-thon, hula hoop-a-thon and keepy uppy-a-thon. Teachers noted class scores for each event and certificates given to winning classes.

Thank you for all taking part and donating. We raised a fantastic amount of £513.16

Year 5 Explorer Dome Visit 17th November:  Year 5 had a really exciting morning in the Explorer Dome, as part of their Science theme - Light. They found out more about what light is and where it comes from, how it travels and how we see.

The inside of the dome was really dark, which was perfect for finding out about colour mixing and reflection. All the children thoroughly enjoyed the session and impressed us with what they had already learnt. Thank you to Matt and Amy Explorer Dome presenters.

Special Remembrance Assembly: 

We are extremely proud of all the children in Year 5 who led our St Martin's Remembrance Day assembly.

They presented information they had researched and performed poetry to the whole school to explain the importance of this day. The whole school observed a 2 minute silence.

Harvest Assembly - Weston Foodbank donations:

Thank you again to everyone for your kind and generous donations which the children brought into school during Harvest week which were all donated to the WsM Foodbank charity, totalling 244.10kg.

We would like to share their letter of thanks to all our families and staff.

A SELECTION OF ‘ART WEEK’ WORK ON DISPLAY AT OUR CELEBRATION OF LEARNING EVENT - 7TH JULY 2022

      (Reception & Key Stage 1)                            (Key Stage 2)

Year 4 Overnight Outdoor Adventure, Fernhill Farm - 30th June-1st July: 

On 30th June, Year 4 left St Martin's to embark on their Overnight Camp Adventure at Fernhill Farm run by Osprey Outdoors. They all took part in many activities including an assault course, firewood collection and a tour of part of the farm. Despite some rain during the night and early morning, the weather was very much in their favour. Not only did they all have an amazing time but the children were an absolute credit to the school and we were very proud of all of them!

Year 5 WOW Day: Dressed up as Evacuees and soldiers, Year 5 had a wonderful World War 2 WOW Day. As part of the special occasion, Year 5 did some drawing, codebreaking and completed a quiz! The children also enjoyed an excellent World War 2 workshop from a special visitor all the way from 1940. He taught them ‘The Lambeth Walk’, helped the children make a ‘Bicycle built for two’ and they found out it was ‘A Long Way to Tipperary!’ After sheltering in the Underground they waited for the ‘all clear’ from the air-raid siren.

A huge ‘well done’ to all the children who took part in our Sports Days this term. Thank you to School Sports Teaching for organising and running the events so amazingly again this year, also to all the staff who helped throughout.

The winning classes were:
Reception – Elm Class   KS1 – Hazel Class

Year 3 – Class 3BH       Year 4 – Class 4J

Year 5 – Class 5E         Year 6 – Class 6C

Wild Place Project Visit - 5th July:  

Year 1 and 2 children went to the Wild Place Project, near Bristol in Term 6. They spent the day looking at all of the animals and listened carefully to keeper talks about the bears and lemurs. All of the children had a fantastic day and represented the school beautifully. 

NSSPA Dance Festival at The Playhouse Theatre - 22nd June:

The children performed four dances and were absolutely amazing! They were a real credit to our school and made everyone really proud. To see the encouragement the two groups gave each other, and how proud they were of each other, was really heartwarming.

Thank you to everyone who helped on the night, also our parents and carers for enabling the children to attend their after school rehearsals so the children were prepared on the night.

St Martin's Celebrates Queen's Platinum Jubilee:

On the last day of term the whole school enjoyed a range of Jubilee activities including collages, party games, quizzes, a parade, picnic, crafts and cooking.  All the children wrote pledges "If we were King or Queen for the day..."     
(27th May 2022)

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Walk to School Week 16th-20th May:  
We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who was able to take part in the National Walk to School Week. It was great to see so many children thinking about the way we choose to travel. We had an assembly to share the benefits for us, and the environment, when walking, scooting, cycling, or park and striding to school. Each class also had a focus on road safety during classwork. 

We had a ‘Walk To School Competition’ running every day during that week. The Reception/KS1 class winner was Hazel class and the KS2 winning class was 5L. They have all received some very brightly coloured pencils as prizes. Well done everyone! 

RED NOSE DAY 18th March 2022:

Thank you to all our families and staff for the generous Red Nose Day cash donations following our non uniform day Friday.

We raised an amazing £316.76 towards this Appeal.

Congratulations to the winners of the Joke Competition: 
Reception classes, 3BH and Year 6 Teachers

Wessex Water Educational Visit, Cannington - 8th March 2022: Year 3 enjoyed their trip to Wessex Water and took part in lots of river activities - naming and investigating the features of a river, building dams and taking a tour of a reservoir!

The children also enjoyed building dens by the river side and meeting the local swans! It was a little bit chilly - but they all had an amazing day!

World Book Day 25th Anniversary:  On 3rd March St Martin’s celebrated World Book Day, sharing the love of books and reading. The children enjoyed finding new books to read through our Book Tasting Café events and all looked fantastic dressed up as their favourite book characters.

Drama Workshop with Worle School:  Over the last three terms, Year 5 have been working with Mrs Miller, who teaches drama at Worle Community School. They have enjoyed developing their team work and collaborative skills through some quite challenging games which we can continue to use in the classroom.
Both the staff and Mrs Miller were really impressed with the way the children worked together.

Santa Trail Competition:  Our Reception and Key Stage 1 children designed and painted their own Santa’s. Well done to Taylor and Matilda whose designs were chosen.

All the children then helped to paint our St Martin’s 3 foot Santa, which has formed part of the Weston Santa Trail. The Trail runs in and around the Weston Sovereign Centre until Monday 3rd January. There is a prize up for grabs of 2 tablets for the school nominated to have the best design! There is also a prize for the family who is picked, who will win a ‘£200 spending spree’ at the Sovereign Centre.

Weston Museum Exhibition: Year 4 classes went to Weston Museum on 14th December to showcase the incredible artefacts they made during their Romans topic. The Year 4 team are incredibly proud of the artefacts they created and how well they set up the exhibition independently.

Carols on the Playground:  A huge thank you to everyone who came along to our event on 10th December. It was a wonderful time for families to enjoy songs and readings by the children, outdoor festive stalls, games and refreshments. We would also like to thank local businesses for their generous Prize Draw donations.

Children In Need: On 19th November, the whole school took part in a Children In Need fundraising day. Thank you again to our families and staff for generous donations – we raised an amazing £319.14

Iron Age WOW Day Year 3: Year 3 had an amazing time on their Iron Age WOW Day and the children took part in ‘Warrior training’. The children observed Celtic patterns and then designed their own shield. They had fun using contrasting colours to paint their shields and decorated a spear tip and thoroughly enjoyed the day!

Celebrating Maths: In November, Year 4 had a great time celebrating Maths week. They created their own board games in the style of Articulate but based the topics on their Maths learning. After decorating their boards, they created question cards and then played the games together. They chose to get tokens to win points when they got an answer correct!

Year 3 celebrated Maths week by taking part in a code breaker activity and enjoyed experiencing Maths in a different way. Year 1 children also had lots of fun painting and creating their number bonds to 10. They were also able to show that Maths can be fun and creative.

Explorer Dome Visit: During Term 2, Year 5 had the incredible opportunity of going inside the Explorer Dome. Once inside, the children learnt lots of interesting information all about ‘Light’. The instructors were incredibly impressed with the knowledge the children were able to share from their learning on this topic throughout the term. It was a fantastic and enriching experience for them all and one the children certainly won’t forget. 

Harvest Celebrations:  Thank you to all our families for the generous amount of donations brought into school for WsM Foodbank charity last week. Our Year 2 children led a whole school Harvest Festival Assembly and wrote their own speech explaining all about Harvest and how it is celebrated. They all spoke fantastically.

Thank you to Alvin, WsM Foodbank representative who visited Year 2 and explained how the Foodbank supports local families. The children then helped and sort donated items ready for people in need to collect.

Reception classes welcomed their parents into school for a special Harvest Assembly on Tuesday. The children had rehearsed their harvest songs over the last couple of weeks and all sang beautifully.

(22nd October 2021)

Some of our Key Stage 1 children enjoying their yummy hot chocolates - served up on 'Hot Chocolate Fridays' organised by the St Martin's Fundraising Team for the whole school to take part in.

(1st October 2021)

Year 6 Camp Grittleton House: Year 6 enjoyed another successful residential visit to Grittleton House. The children worked well in their teams, overcame challenges and had a fun time. The climbing wall continues to be a popular activity and the children also loved team based tasks like buggy building and the escape room. We look forward to going again next year!

Sports Days Term 6:  All of the classes had the opportunity to take part in Archery, Javelin and Hurdles as well as racing each other on the grass track. Well done to all the children who took part. They enjoyed all of the activities and demonstrated excellent sportsmanship supporting each other through each activity.

Butterfly Visit 16th July: Year 1 were visited by Munching Caterpillars from the Butterfly Conservation Trust at the end of term. The children learnt the difference between a butterfly and a moth, also how many species of each there are in the UK. They then had the chance to look at some moths closely and to plant some outdoor plants to attract butterflies to the school. The children all enjoyed the experience and have taken home their own seeds to encourage butterflies in the wild.

Year 4 Overnight Camp Adventure 1st and 2nd July: Year 4 had an amazing time at Osprey Camp! They took part in an assault course, enjoyed den building, fire wood collecting, cricket and a farm tour. The children had the opportunity to play games around the camp site, create gods eyes and play in the forest area. They were a credit to the school and staff were incredibly impressed. The Year 4 Team hope they enjoyed it as much as they did! The children returned to school for a shared a picnic lunch provided by our Kitchen Team.

Year 6 Residential Camp 5th-9th July 2021: The Year 6 children had an amazing week at Grittleton House. The camp was a huge success this year and this was the first time we have used this venue. The children took part in a fantastic range of activities during their stay and we are looking forward to taking our new Year 6 classes at the end of September.

St Martin’s takes part in 'England Does The Daily Mile' event 30th April:
This national event aims to raise awareness about better mental health. All of the children and staff had so much fun as they ran ‘The Daily Mile’ in their year group bubbles throughout the day and the sun was shining!

Bikeability Training: Well done to the Year 6 cycle groups who all completed their Level 2 Bikeability Training. Life Cycle trainers Shena, Gillian and Simon complimented the children on their hard work and fantastic behaviour during their training. The children were all awarded with Level 2 certificates and badges shared during our Achievement Assemblies. Bikeability training aims to develop children’s riding skills and confidence.

Earth Day: On 22nd April, St Martin's School came together to celebrate Earth Day. The children discussed how important our world is and explored the small steps that they could take to protect our planet. 

All classes were challenged with an hour of using no electricity in their classrooms and the children designed beautiful mini-posters that will be placed around the school to promote looking after our planet. Some classes took part in Earth Day experiments during the day. Classes 3E and 3BH have buried some objects in the school grounds to see if they are biodegradable and will dig them up at the end of this month to find out.

World Book Day: On Friday 5th March St Martin’s took part in World Book Day celebrations. It was fantastic to see everyone dressed up as their favourite book characters, joining in with World Book Day activities organised by their teachers and sharing stories. Everyone was encouraged to get involved, whether in school or via online learning at home.

Thank you to so many of you who shared your child’s World Book Day photos which were entered into a draw. The year group winners were:
Oskar - Reception winner    The Sharpe family - Year 1 winner
William - Year 2 winner       Dougie - Year 3 winner
Reece - Year 4 winner        The Griffin Family - Year 5 winner
Emil - Year 6 winner

All the winning entries received a book prize.

Cooking with Chartwells: During Term 4, Reception and Year 3 classes enjoyed a visit from Chartwells who came in to show them how to create their own pizzas. The children made pizza dough, chose their toppings and had it cooked for them to taste. They thoroughly enjoyed it, thank you Chartwells!

Santa Run: Over the last two weeks the children and staff have attempted to run/walk the distance from St Martin's to the North Pole. They were all given a Santa hat to get them into the Christmas spirit. It was going to be a tough challenge as we started late in the term. The children had great fun and made a fantastic effort in completing 1,754 miles of the 2,600 mile journey - burning a massive 175,000 calories. We think they have all earned a few treats over the Christmas period.
A big well done to everyone for taking part!
   
(18th December)

Christmas Lunches: Well done to all the staff involved in organising and providing such a fabulous Christmas Lunch experience for all the children to enjoy again this year. A special thank you to our brilliant kitchen team and lunchtime supervisors who all worked extremely hard. There was a lovely festive atmosphere and buzz of excitement in our dining hall.

Cards and Decorations for the Local Community: As the school choir children would usually visit local Care Homes to sing carols, this year the whole school took part in designing Christmas cards to be distributed to several local Care Homes. They also created decorations for Weston General Hospital. We delivered over 400 which the children enjoyed making.

KS2 pupils cards included greetings, poems and Christmas jokes for each individual Care Home resident to enjoy. Our Reception and KS1 pupils painted snow globes, designed angels and snowmen pictures which were all laminated to be used as decorations around the hospital. Here are some of their fantastic finished pieces which we would like to share with you!

Children In Need: 

St Martin’s supported Children In Need on 13th November.   We held a non uniform day and all of the children and staff were invited to come to school choosing to wear any of the colours linked to the ‘5 Ways To Wellbeing’ to fundraise for BBC Children in Need. We raised a fantastic £463.44 - thank you again for your amazing support.

Anti-Bullying Week 16th-20th November: It was wonderful to see so many children wearing their odd socks to help us raise awareness and celebrate ‘Odd Socks Day’. We also held a special virtual assembly for National Anti-Bullying week.

Year 3 Iron Age WOW Day 2nd December: The Year 3 classes had an amazing and exciting Iron Age WOW. The children dressed up in fantastic Iron Age outfits, and experienced life in the Iron Age through various hands on activities. They all practised their spear throwing skills using javelins on the playground, and also designed and decorated their own Iron Age spear tip and Iron Age shield using Celtic patterns as well as Iron Age pinch pots out of clay. It was an incredible day enjoyed by all!

Harvest for Foodbank Weston-super-Mare:
Thank you to families and staff at St Martin’s for your generous donations to the local Foodbank charity which supports local families in need. We received a fantastic amount of grocery items for our Harvest event. A special thank you to Hugh (Reception) and Charlie (Year 6) whose grandad kindly donated this wonderful harvest loaf.

During the first weeks back at school in September, all the children took part in a project based on ‘Here We Are’ – a book by Oliver Jeffers. Their final task was to write notes for planet earth giving advice to anyone who lives here. We used them to create these amazing displays.

A ‘Thank You' to our NHS and Care Workers: We are really grateful to everyone who kindly sent in their beautifully written ’Thank You Poems’ and colourful Rainbow pictures. 🌈✍️

Weston General Hospital asked if St Martin’s pupils would like to be involved in creating Rainbow pictures for their Juniper Ward - where they are creating a ‘Rainbow Room’. 
 

We have now sent these wonderful pictures to Weston General Hospital at Uphill and also sent copies together with the children's poems to local Care Homes, in support of our NHS and care workers - and to say a heartfelt ‘Thank You’. 
 

(click on the above images to view)

2.6 challenge:  On Sunday 26 April when the 40th London Marathon would have been held, some photos of our pupil’s completed their various challenges:

• Well done Noah 3E who chose to skip 26 times on his trampoline!
• Lewis and Isla, Ash and Pine classes, who each cycled 26 times around the pond in Clarence Park. Fantastic cycling skills! 
• Isabella 5JC completed 2 x 2.6 miles on her bike. WOW that's amazing Isabella!
• Dexter in Y1 Chestnut and Chace 3HC completed their 26 star jump challenge - brilliant effort boys!
• Well done also to Evie in Reception who completed her walk/run of 2.6 miles around Worlebury Golf Course.

• Lola class 4O and Mrs Kelly support staff, each completed 26 miles in 1 week - combination of Lola cycling and Mrs Kelly running.

• Ms Somers admin staff, covered 2.6 miles Monks Hill and Milton Hill

"A huge well done to everyone involved in supporting the UK charities fundraising event and they received some lovely messages of thanks from their chosen charities".

Easter Competition April 2020:  We received these fantastic entries for our Easter Competition sent into school during the Easter week. Congratulations to our Key Stage Winners, Emily class 6U and Grace Y1 Chestnut, who each won an Easter basket full of treats (kindly donated by Worle Lions Club). 

Well done to all our entrants and we thought we would share this colourful collage of bonnets, cakes, decorated eggs, lego model, Easter gardens and sculptures.
 

World Book Day 2020:  It was fantastic to see everyone dressed up and joining in with our World Book Day activities, competitions and storytimes throughout the day. Pupils and staff were all invited to come to school dressed in their favourite colour, as our theme was based on the popular book ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers. Our Lunchtime Library was busy with crayon making activity and 'library shelfies' with the giant crayons.

Year 6 Bristol Educational Visit 3rd and 4th March 2020: Year 6 classes had a fantastic time on their visit to Bristol where they had the opportunity to discover the City by boat and learn all about its links to the Transatlantic Slave Trade. They were also able to explore the ‘Bristol Life and Places’ Exhibitions in the M Shed Museum to learn even more about the local history of Bristol. They will be using the information to enhance their writing over the next few weeks.

Ski Group 2020 update: they completed their final day of skiing today and all 46 children skied a run together this afternoon. They have all done really well and achieved so much, from complete beginners to everyone skiing down blue slopes by mid week. 

During the week the children watched a ski and light show where instructors performed tricks and jumps on the slopes. They also enjoyed a Games Night and finished with a Disco earlier this evening. 

6th March, Ski Group 2020

Ski Trip 2020 Group are all having an amazing time. They arrived at Alpe D’Huez on Saturday - completed their ski fit with boots, ski’s, poles and helmets ready for Day 1 skiing on Sunday. 
  

They’ve enjoyed plenty of fresh snow, blue skies, watched some ice hockey on the way back to the hotel.  Quiz and games night this evening, after dinner.  More updates to follow.

3rd March 2020, Ski Group 2020

MAT Rugby Tournament at Becket Primary: Our Year 4 entered a MAT Rugby Tournament at Becket School on 13th February. It was a competitive afternoon with some great Rugby and effort on display. The weather had been unfavourable but that didn't stop the children playing in the right spirit and enjoying the games in the mud! The team, made up of Charlie, Sibu, Louis, Ash, James, Nell, Natasha and Lola finished in 4th place over all. Well done to everyone involved!

Maths Enrichment Day:  On 6th February, a group of Year 3 pupils from St Martin's took part in a Maths Workshop with children from Becket, Mendip Green, Milton Park, Worle Village and Lympsham Primary Schools.  The workshop was led by Pete Hall a Maths Consultant.  During the day the pupils worked together on various challenges.  It was a fun filled day which everyone really benefited.

Dinosaur Museum Year 1:  On 17^th January Year 1 children showcased their work from their ‘Dinosaur’ topic, creating a Museum. Classes came to visit their Museum. Year 1 invited their families and were very excited and enthusiastic to share all of their knowledge about dinosaurs and amazing models they created. It was a fantastic celebration of the children's learning and we received some lovely comments from their families.

Sports News Term 3:

In January St Martin’s took part in the North Somerset Schools Gymnastics Level 1 and Level 2 Competitions.  Our level 1 Team: Grace, Bethany, Lily, Adelina and Anna-Maria. Our level 2 team: Ella, Libby, Katie, Poppy and Amelia. 

The girls were given routines to learn before the day which they practised during their lunch breaks and at home. They also had to complete a vault jump. Both teams earned respectable scores and a special mention to Grace in the Level 1 team who finished 7th out of 62 gymnasts in the individual competition, an outstanding achievement! Well done to all the girls who took part.  

St Martin’s also entered the North Somerset Dodecathlon. This event gave children the opportunity to take part in 12 multi-skill challenges, with an emphasis on teamwork and self belief. Well done again to Chloe, Harvey, Evie, Ruby, Erin, Shayan, Ava, Asya, Nicolas and Hasnain who represented the school brilliantly!

Year 4 Roman Display at Weston Museum: On 18^th December Year 4 had the opportunity to showcase their work from the Romans Topic at the Weston Museum. They all worked extremely hard producing work to be displayed, even writing informative labels to go with each item on show. The Museum's education and history department were so impressed with the pieces that they produced. 

Raise The Roof: On 27th November, Year 3 and Year 4 children from St Martin’s, Worle Village and Worlebury St Paul’s came together for ‘Raise the Roof’.

The children had learnt songs about saving the planet and created things to wear made out of recycling. They all performed beautifully! A big thank you to Anne Clough from North Somerset Music Service for teaching us the songs and leading the performance.

Children in Need: This fundraising event was a great success again this year! The Year 4 School Councillors and St Martin’s Fundraising Team members led the fundraising activities in the hall brilliantly. The children raised £679.92 for BBC Children in Need this year! Thank you all so much for your support and donations.

Year 3 Iron Age WOW Day 29th November: Year 3 had a fantastic day learning about the Iron Age. The children handled spears, swords, shields, animals skins and even chain mail! They also took part in warrior training.

The children thoroughly enjoyed the day and left with a wealth of knowledge about the Iron Age. A massive thank you to Matt from ‘Experience the Iron Age’ who made the past come to life for the children in Year 3.

Year 2 WOW Day: On 12th November Year 2 classes took part in a Great Fire of London WOW day as part of their History topic this term.

Year 4 Caerleon Roman Fort Visit 14th November, by Freija and Lola Class 4O: “Firstly, Year 4 went to the Museum and tried on armour in the barracks. Secondly, we looked at all the jewellery and coins. We then went to the baths and saw remains of the Roman Baths followed by a yummy lunch. We went into the hut and Freya was a rich person and Lola was a slave. We then returned to school.”

Year 4 Museum Workshop: During Term 2, our Year 4 children took part in a Museum Workshop. Miss Bell from Weston Museum visited us with a selection of artefacts and taught us how to put together an exciting museum display in preparation for our own Museum. The children learnt how to set up a display and how to make appropriate labels for different artefacts.

Phonics Workshops: At the beginning of term Mrs Mutch ran a series of Phonics Workshops for Reception and Year 1 parents. We had a fantastic up take from parents and the workshops were a huge success. Thank you to those parents and carers who attended and also left some wonderful feedback.

“Thank you for a brilliant workshop. Very helpful. Really informative and will definitely help me support reading and writing at home.”

“Excellent workshop, thank you. Very informative and some great suggestions.” “Really good and helpful Phonics workshop by Mrs Mutch.”

Harvest Assembly and Reception Harvest Celebration: On Monday 21^st October staff and children at St Martin's welcomed Frederique and Alvin from the Weston-super-Mare Foodbank to their Harvest Celebration. This was led by the Year 2 pupils.   Thank you to everyone who brought in food items, also to the Foodbank representatives who explained all about the local Foodbank charity. 

The Reception class parents and carers were invited to a Harvest Celebration on 24^th October.  This was their first performance to an audience and we are very proud of them, well done! Thank you to all our parents, carers and family who were able to come along and support their event.  

Drum Workshop:  The Year 5 classes all had an opportunity to play a range of African Drums and percussions instruments during a workshop at the start of Term 2. The children enjoyed it and will continue to use the school African Drums during the remainder of the year.  

Thank you to Roger Sansom from the North Somerset Music Service who led the workshop.

Gardening Club visit Mayor Parlour:  Congratulations again to our Gardening Club who received 3^rd Prize for their entry in the WSM Horticultural Society, Plant a Wheelbarrow Schools Competition. On 11th October, the children and Mrs Baker visited the Mayors Parlour and were each presented with a medal during a prize giving session. They met the Mayor and Lady Mayoress, Councillor Mark Canniford and Mrs Estelle Canniford. 

They saw photos of the original house, grounds, silverware and previous Mayors. The children enjoyed refreshments and snacks before returning to school.

Year 6 Morfa Bay Residential Camp:  Many of our Year 6 pupils attended Morfa Bay for their residential camp again this year. They had an amazing time and were able to participate in a wide range of adventurous activities, from abseiling and climbing to sea activities and mountain biking.

It was great to see so many children overcoming fears and also developing a new passion for some of the activities throughout the week. 

Writing Enrichment Day: St Martin’s had a special visitor during Term 1 - Kate Williams one of the UK’s leading children’s poets. Kate hosted a Writing Enrichment workshop for groups of children from St Martin's, Becket, Milton and Lympsham Primary Schools. The children learnt about rhyme, rhythm, riddles and wordplay and with their imaginations set roaming they were inspired to create their own forest theme poems.

Kate signed personalised copies of illustrated poetry books which are available to borrow from our school library.

Grant Koper Author Visit: Key Stage 1 and Reception children were also treated to a visit from author Grant Koper during Term 1.

Grant gave a ‘live reading’ to the children, reading his book ‘The Day Granny’s Knickers Blew Away’. He then answered children’s questions about being an author. His answers were inspiring to the children and he gave them the opportunity to write a story and send it to his website www.grantkoper.com Grant Koper will publish the very best stories he reads on his website for others to share. Each child received an official certificate to say they had attended a live reading and met the author.

Year 4 Music Lessons: The Year 4 classes are really enjoying their trumpet lessons this term. Thank you Mr Sansom from North Somerset Music Service for coming in to introduce trumpets to us as part of the Music Service Prelude Programme.

Year 5 and 6 Netball Festival 25th September: Some of our Y5/Y6 pupils took part in a North Somerset Netball Festival at Bristol Grammar School. The girls learned various new skills and the rules of High 5 Netball before playing some friendly fixtures against other schools. All the children involved represented the school exceptionally! A huge well done to Megan M, Chloe B, Amelie T, Savannah E, Kinisi N, Poppy B, Maria G, Adelina M and Maisie H who took part.

Multi-Sports Festival Term 1: A group of our Year 4 children attended a multi-sports festival at Hutton Moor Leisure Centre, trying out 2 sports from the Modern Pentathlon - Fencing and Laser Pistol Shooting. They also had the chance to meet Team GB athlete and world champion Modern Pentathlete Samantha Murray, who brought her Olympic medals along which they got to hold and wear!  Well done to Nell L, Ash E, Ava S, Dina C, Isaac S and Jacob S who all attended.

Sports Leaders: Eden P and Michail O have been selected as our Lead Sports Ambassadors. They attended a training morning and have been given valuable experience of leadership and gained skills which they will be using in school and with the other Sports Ambassadors.

Crumble in the Club 27th September: Children at After School Club had an opportunity to try an apple and pear crumble and custard, made using fruit from trees in the school grounds. Leo and Maisie Y5 had a ‘masterchef’ session with Mrs James (Playworker) and prepared the crumble mixture the old fashioned ‘rubbing’ way.

All the children really enjoyed their pudding – even those who had never experienced a crumble before.

Wales & West Utilities Competition Winner:  Congratulations to Morgan Y5 who has scooped the top prize in a national gas safety Competition, for the rap song he created 'Carbon Monoxide is not cool!' Morgan beat off thousands of entries from across the UK, he wanted to create something which was interesting and fun for people his age, so chose to write a rap to a well-known tune!

Morgan initially won the Regional Wales & West Utilities CO Safety Competition but was crowned overall National Winner at an event which took place at the House of Commons, where he collected a trophy along with a further cash prize of £450 for himself and an additional £900 for our school.

The organisers said "Morgan's entry had captured the attention of all the judges and he has done a fantastic job in bringing to life a very serious issue".

Morgan quoted "to have won the regional competition was great but when I found out that I'd been named national winner, I couldn't believe it! I now hope that my entry will give other people the information on the dangers of CO and what to do if they suspect it."

We are all really proud of Morgan for his hard work in entering and winning this competition.  Morgan's entry explained a very serious subject in an easy to understand and entertaining rap, using IT to make the information accessible and memorable. 

Celebration of Learning Event - 11th July:  St Martin's held an Celebration of Learning Event at St Martin's School.  We had a fantastic turnout and it was wonderful to see so many parents and families come along to share and celebrate children's work and successes from this past year.

The school looked amazing with all of the art projects on display which the children had completed during their Art Weeks.  We were treated to music performances in the hall by the School Choir, Year 2 Singing and Dance Group.  There were lots of fun activities for everyone to enjoy, library activities, sports in the gym, Year 3 Rain Forest Cafe selling tropical cocktails, Year 6 shared Science experiments, fundraising raffle organised by the School Council and the BBQ was popular as were the ice creams.  Thank you to everyone who attended our special evening and thank you to the staff and governors for their hard work.

Folly Farm Bristol Educational Visit - 1st July:  Both Year 1 classes visited Folly Farm, Bishop Sutton where they enjoyed a nature trail to identify different plants, used pebbles to explore colour and match to the different things they found in the woodland.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day and learnt a great detail shout lifecycles.  Thank you also to our parent helpers and class students.

Kaleidoscope MAT Science Fair 3rd & 4th July: St Martin's hosted a Science Fair. Our pupils in Years 1 to 6 took turns to visit along with children from some of our other MAT schools.  They enjoyed having a go on the smoothie bike, learning about robotics, magnets and electricity plus much much more. Thank you to the Kaleidoscope Science Network for all their hard in planning and organising the fair.

Environmental Club Visit to Wraxall: On Wednesday, the Environmental Club spent the morning at the North Somerset Agricultural Show for Primary Schools. They were taught about the farming industry, how different food products are made and got to meet some very cute farm animals. The children and staff had a great morning and enjoyed getting up close to all the animals.

Weston Rotary Art Competition: We had a fantastic amount of entries for the Weston Rotary Art Competition. Local schools entered their finest works and we were lucky to have a winner! Well done to Chloe B Year 4 for her entry. Chloe won a voucher for St Martin's School, and was also awarded a voucher prize for herself and presented with a 1st Prize certificate which we shared in our Achievement Assembly. Well done also to runners up for their entries.

Buddies Afternoon Tea: On 16th July, an afternoon tea party was held for our more recent Year 5 ‘Buddies’. This group of 16 children have gone above and beyond in giving their own time over lunchtime play to help Lunchtime Supervisors and Y2 and Y3 children on the top playground. Many of these have helped throughout the year and many are now helping twice or even three times a week. The afternoon started with various games in the dining hall before sitting down together to a ‘feast’ of jam and cucumber sandwiches, cakes, scones with jam and clotted cream – and even strawberries dipped in chocolate! All this was washed down with a fruit punch. All the children loved the experience and many of the children made ‘toasts’ and ‘speeches’! Ms Barnes came in to see the children and to thank them for their dedicated work and time. She reiterated how much they are appreciated by the lunchtime staff and also by the younger children with whom they play.

This was a ‘first’ for this event but one which we hope to continue in future years. Many thanks to Mrs James (Lunchtime Supervisor) for giving up her time to prepare the fantastic food and help with the event.

Year 4 Overnight Camp June 2019: The Year 4 pupils took part in an overnight camping trip to Fernhill Farm and enjoyed a range of outdoor activities including the much anticipated assault course, games and farm tour. The visit was a great success and the children ended the day with hot chocolate and marshmallows around the camp fire. For many children this was their first experience of camping and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves and all had a fantastic experience. The children were a credit to our school and their behaviour was praised by the Osprey camp staff.

Thank you to our staff  and some of our student teachers who gave up their own time to take the children. Thank you also to the team from Osprey for making the visit so enjoyable again this year. Additional photos will be on display in the Year 4 classrooms at our Celebration of Learning evening.

Year 2 Bug Hunt June 2019: The children have been working hard learning all about minibeasts and their habitats.  They held Minibeast trails for their parents, writing letters inviting their families to a Bug Hunt Trail around the school. The children had the opportunity to show off their posters, fact files and drawings. They loved hunting for bugs!

All of the children were fantastic and showed off their amazing knowledge. Thank you to all of the parents and carers who came along to this event making it such a success.

Reception Classes Drama Workshop June 2019: Reception classes had a very special surprise when they were all invited to take part in a ‘Drama4All’ workshop led by Perform for Schools. Peter Pan came to visit the children to take them on an adventure all the way to 'Neverland' where they tricked Captain Hook and stole his treasure. The children explored drama through different techniques. They acted out being characters such as 'Tinkerbell', 'Wendy', 'Tick Tock Crocodile' and they even got turned into Peter Pan's shadow. The children had a wonderful experience. Everyone fully participated and the children were full of smiles and laughter. 

Scooter Workshops: On 17th June, Year 2 classes welcomed Neville from For2Feet who took groups of children onto the back playground to polish up their Scooter Skills. The sessions are designed to increase childrens’ safety when out on their scooters as part of our 'Walk to School' initiative. The children then went out with him onto the pavements around the school so they could assess risks in the real world. The children had a fantastic time and the workshop sessions were a brilliant success.

Year 5 & 6 Level 2 cycle training Term 6:  Well done to our cycle groups who completed their Level 2 cycle training organised by Life Cycle UK. They received their badges and Bikeability packs and were awarded with their Certificates in our end of year Achievement Assembly. 

WOW Walk to School Challenge:  St. Martin’s Primary School is excited to be taking part in a fantastic nationwide challenge to encourage more children and their families to walk to school year-round. A ‘Living Streets’ representative hosted an assembly to talk to the whole school about the ‘Walk to School Challenge’ looking to get as many children as possible experiencing the benefits walking to school brings. The children log their daily on our interactive WOW Travel Tracker. For more information you may visit: www.livingstreets.org.uk/walktoschool 

“Join us, thousands of schools and around one million pupils enjoying the benefits of walking to school across the UK.  Let’s swap those school runs for school walks”.

‘Who Lives in the Garden?’ 

The Reception classes have been closely observing real caterpillars. They have observed the changes and discussed the processes they noticed. After the caterpillars made their chrysalides, the children saw them emerge and turn into butterflies.

At the start of Term 6 the children released the butterflies cheering them on as they flew off.

After School Club Green Fingers:  The children who attend our After School Club have been busy growing plants from seed, successfully growing radishes, spring onion, lettuce, peppers, celery, sweetcorn, tomatoes, strawberries, basil and coriander.  They enjoy salad daily as part of their after school meal and soon plan to make soup and tomato pasta sauce.  The children have all enjoyed caring for the plants and watching them grow.

Environmental News Update:  Environmental Club have been busy planting and growing sunflowers and planning their entry into the wheelbarrow competition during Term 5 and 6.  They have collected a huge amount of old batteries to be recycled.  Please remember to keep bringing in your old batteries, a collection container can be found in the school office reception area.  Please also send in any finished eco bricks as we will be starting to make our eco brick sofa during Term 6. 

Book Fair: We can now announce that we raised a fantastic £303.61 in commission from books purchased at the Scholastic Book Fair in Term 4. St Martin’s will use this money to purchase new books for the Library and classes. Thank you to our parents and carers again for your support.

Year 5 First Aid Training: Our Year 5 classes completed their first aid learning with St John Ambulance during Term 5. Each class completed a day of training which included the primary survey (DRABC), recovery position, dealing with choking, dressing a wound etc. Well done to our Year 5 pupils!

The St John Ambulance trainer commented on how much she had enjoyed working with the children at St Martin’s School.

Exmoor Zoo Workshop Visit:  At the start of Term 5 Reception and Year 3 classes enjoyed a visit from Exmoor Zoo.  Year 3 learnt all about tropical rainforest habitat as well as meeting some of the creatures.  "I loved that we could see a scorpion up close and that it changed colour under an infra-red lamp." Emme L-N

Reception children had the opportunity to learn facts about different animals including a snake, spider, giant African land snail, stick insect and millipede. All children had the opportunity to touch the animals if they wanted to.  The children really loved the experience and were very well behaved.

The Exmoor Zoo staff both complimented on how well behaved all of the pupils were and they enjoyed their visit to St Martin’s School.

Maths Enrichment Day  April 2019:  A group of 6 Year 3 children took part in a Maths day. Mrs Large from '4 the love of maths' came into school and worked with the children on a variety of different challenging maths activities. The day was very hands on with lots of practical activities to take part in. Children from Mendip Green, Lympsham, Milton Park, Worle Village and Becket also attended the day allowing us to meet and work with new people.

Easter Competitions: It was lovely to see all the colourful and creative Easter Egg, Bonnet and Poetry entries brought in by children across the year groups. Thank you to everyone who took part again this year. The year group winners were all announced in achievement assemblies and each presented with a certificate and novelty Easter prize.

Maths Challenge Term 4:  8 of our Y4 and Y5 children took part in a Maths Challenge against other schools within our Kaleidoscope MAT. The challenge was held at Becket School and the children worked collaboratively, in teams of 4, answering questions on fluency, reasoning and problem solving. All the children who took part did brilliantly. Well done to our St Martin’s Team A who came joint 2nd.

North Somerset Dance Festival Term 4: Our Year 2 Dance Group pupils performed at the Weston Playhouse Theatre. A fantastic well done to all of the children who took part – they were absolutely amazing and a credit to our school and their families. Thank you to all the staff who supported in rehearsal and helped behind the scenes on the night. Particular thanks go to Miss Muff, Miss Parker and Mr Marshall for their organising.

Red Nose Day 15th March: The School Council organised Red Nose Day again this year. Pupils were invited to wear their own clothes to school, something red or Comic Relief. In the afternoon a Talent Show took place where every class was represented by their class nominated pupil, who had the opportunity to perform on stage to the
whole school with their own special talent act.

We raised an amazing £336.87, thank you for your support.