Mrs Bettam would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Summer holiday:)
Enjoy yourselves and see you all again in September xx

First Holy Communion for Class 3B

Sunday 7th June was a very special day for our class as many of us made our First Holy Communion. We all looked very smart and read our readings with such enthusiasm! Mrs Bettam said that she had goosebumps when we sang our special class song at the end of Mass and we were all very reverant when we received Jesus for the first time.

It was really nice to see so many of our Faith Friends from Year 6 come to share our celebrations and we are now looking forward to Class 3J making their First Holy Communion on Sunday 14th June.

We will also be having a special Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday 21st June at Saint Edward's Church and friends and family are welcome back to celebrate this special time in our lives.

Hello everyone in Birmingham,
Greetings from Groningen in the Netherlands:)
I am having a wonderful time here in Groningen and the sunshine has made made visit really enjoyable. So far I have visited 7 different schools and have been able to talk to children from all over the area. This morning I was invited to the Town Hall to visit one of the Aldermen (a town councillor who has responsibility for Education in the area).
I have been able to do a bit of sightseeing around the local area, they have a beautiful church in the main town square and I have taken loads of photographs...I promise not to bore you all too much with them when I get back;)
Hope you are all enjoying your half term???
I can't wait to have a relaxing sleep now as I am soooo tired!
See you all soon
Mrs Bettam x

Multi-Cultural Week

On Monday, Year 6 practiced designing their own Mehndi patterns using a variety of common designs used by Muslims for religious celebrations. Mehndi is made from henna and applied to the the hands, arms, feet and legs with a cone shaped tool (similar to a cake decorating tube).
On Tuesday, the whole school enjoyed watching a Korean play. The play was about how the sun, moon and stars were created. The mother of a poor family went to work for a selfish, rich lady who lived far away over the mountains. On her return journey from her work, the mother was attacked and eaten by a hungry tiger. The tiger then went to the mother's home, where her children were waiting for her, and tricked them into letting him in. Whilst he was preparing the oven to cook the children, they ran away and hid up a tree. When the tiger started climbing the tree too, the frightened children begged the Sky God to save them, which she did. The children then became the sun and moon, and their mother was the stars.
On Wednesday, Year 5 learnt how to perform Bollywood dancing with professional dancers Hina and Co. and will exhibit their new-found skills at St. Edward's International Evening on Thursday. Year 3 created some Asian art also with the help of Hina and Co.
On Thursday, Key Stage 2 had the opportunity to listen to and take part in a music workshop with Caliche, a South American band. There were many differnet instruments, and all made from something to do with nature, like shakers made from nuts and goats hooves, and guitar-like instruments made from armadillo shells.
Later on Thursday, the school held an International Evening, which was enthusuastically supported by children, parents, staff and members of the community. Performances included more music from Caliche, Bollywood dancing from Hina and co. and year 5 children, Irish dancing from Roisin and Orla, Steel Pans played by year 5 and 6, Mehndi patterns, Chinese calligraphy and food from around the world! What an eventful evening enjoyed by everyone!
Finally, on Friday, Granny Butt visited year 6 and applied Mehndi, using henna, to the children's hands.

Pupils in Year 3 and Year 5 are starting to make their own movies. What do you think of our first attempts?
Follow the link below to see;-

A NEW TERM
Welcome back to everyone at St Edward's School, Class 3B all hope that you had a fantastic time during your holidays. Many of us have spent the time away from school making preparations for our First Holy Communion and are beginning to get very excited about this special day.
The whole school is also getting ready for our School Council elections. Posters are beginning to appear around school and children are thinking carefully about what it is they would like to say to their class.
Election day is May 7th.

Year 6 have just come back from an exciting trip to Alton Castle. It was a fantastic and amazing place and it is definitely the place to go for a retreat. It ia jam packed with fun, activities and prayer. Some of the great activities were trekking along the country side, getting muddy and a lot of exercise. We also did an adventure course swinging on zip wires, crawling in underground tunnels and having to trust your partner. There was a lot more but I can't write it all now as I.C.T club has finished, but don't worry there will be an update next week. By Amy bailey

Sacrament of Reconciliation

On Sunday children in Class 3B and 3J received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Father Dennis and Father Barry helped the children through this Sacrament and everyone said it was a very moving/peaceful celebration.

We are now looking forward to making our First Holy Communion and have begun emailing children at Holy Souls School who are also in Year 3...hopefully we will find out lots of interesting information about each other.

Last Wednesday, the parents and children in Year 3 attended a Sacramental Preparation meeting at school. The parents met Mr Hughes in the hall and discussed what they remembered about the time they received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and how we can say sorry to each other in our families. They then joined the children in Class 3b and 3J to take part in a Sorry Circle. Everyone thought carefully about what they wanted to say to each other and the candle lit prayer time was a lovely occasion for everyone involved.

We are now all looking forward to our Mass of Preparation with Year 6 on Sunday 8th February at Saint Edward's Church.

Class 3B

Year 6 Maths

Recently, we have been doing 'Brain Gym', where we do exercises, all to music, like drawing figures of 8 in the air with our hands, balancing on one foot and right elbow to left knee etc. Since September, we have covered ordering, multiplying and dividing decimals, fractions, probability and handling data. We spent quite a time on each, making sure we understood everything fully. Our maths lessons really help us to learn as best we can and Mr. Silverton is a great, and funny, teacher though sometimes he does like to talk!

Here is a recent maths question we looked at. Mr. Silverton has a weekly question. Can you work out the answer?

A snail climbs a 10m high wall to reach a tasty lettuce leaf. It can reach a height of 3m an hour, but then has to rest for an hour, during which time it slides down 2m. How long will it take our speedy snail to reach the the top of the wall and its tasty lettuce leaf?

Trips, SAT's and getting ready for Christmas

Year 6 has been really exciting so far.We have all worked as a big family.Yr 6 and Yr 3 have been paired as Faith friends;it's a friend which helps you to prepare for First Holy Communion or Confirmation.In Yr6 you are one big family and help each other,working as a team and going to Alton Castle in February.This week and last week we have been practising our words for the Christmas Play.We've had papers for SAT'S!Our great teacher announced this morning that we still have more practise papers to go.(Oh no !)

This amazing blog entry has been brought to you by Eilish Hardy

Year Six

I am in Year Six, it has been quite hard this first term; extra homework and challenging lessons. I want to support all my friends doing Confirmation this year. In February we are visiting Alton Castle to have fun but most importantly, we are preparing ourselves for the Sacrament of Confirmation . The trips like Harvington Hall and Black Country Museum have been great fun and enjoyable but remind us about what it was like for the people back in those times and their working conditions. Did you know that 400 years ago priests were not allowed to celebrate Mass and that being a priest drastically reduced your life expectancy? We found secret priest hiding holes and squeezed into one or two to see what it would have been like for Jesuit priests who were staying at Harvington Hall. We also had a very special Mass in the beautiful chapel. All of Key Stage 2 will be walking up to church this afternoon to run through the Christmas Production, Home for Christmas. We have been learning songs and thinking about what it would be like to be homeless at this time of year.

This blog entry was brought to you by Nicoy, Tim and Joseph, Year Six.

Year Six First Term

This year in Year Six we are preparing for our Confirmation; both classes are looking forward to it! over the last few weeks we have been on some trips to help us grow and develope our faith.we all been paired up with year 3 as faith friends. we are both in a very important year as year 3 take there frist Holy communion and year 6 celeabrate confirmation.We both help each other to grow in faith.This year we will vist Alton Castle as a retreat to help us grow in faith and become like Jesus.

My First Term In Year 6.

This year we have been on many school trips; we have visited Harvington Hall as we are thinking about Confirmation and we going to Alton Castle to help us to get closer to God in 2009.
Our Faith Friends in Year 3 have helped us with this and we worked together in preparing for a special Mass of Commitment in November. We are going on more trips like Drayton Manor later next year, I can't wait! When we went to Harvington Hall, we saw Priest hiding holes and we even squeezed into one! The trip was awesome and we saw the terrible conditions that priests suffered in. People were not allowed to celebrate Mass 400 years ago, the Priests hid in holes which were cold, dark and cramped. Nicholas Owen, a builder and carpenter designed the Priest hiding holes which helped many Jesuit Priests hide and survive the very dangerous times.

This fantastic Blog entry was bought to you by Aimee, Rebecca and Tom.

Sacramental Preparation

This week, the children in Year 3 began their First Holy Communion preparation with a Commitment Mass with Year 6 and a meeting for all of their parents. They all looked fantastic in their uniforms on Sunday and they proudly made their promises. The parents who attended the meeting were asked to rememeber their own First Holy Communion and the preparation they went through. It is an exciting time and the children are all eager to begin their 'I Belong' homework.