Best of Ten
St Mary's Best of Ten
In 2023, the Junior Leadership Team listed their top ten things about St Mary's. It was lovely listening to what they thought about our school!
No 1. Learning:
Our Junior Leadership Team felt that the best thing about St Mary’s was the learning they complete! At St Mary’s we have a very ambitious curriculum and we work hard to ensure all pupils know and remember lots of information about their topics. We support all children in reaching their potential and in developing a wonderful attitude towards learning.
“Learning is fun. We do things on each subject that is practical, like in D&T we made pizzas and bread rolls.”
No 2. Children:
The children at St Mary’s are all kind, caring and considerate of each other. They work incredibly hard to be the best they can be!
They welcome everyone into our lovely school and if the teachers created a ‘Best of 10’ the children would definitely come top, as they make the school the inclusive and joyous place it is.
“One of the best things about our school is it’s Christian values, but I don’t want to say that, as it might stop other children coming here and we want parents to know that everyone is welcome because that’s what’s so special about St Mary’s”
No 3. Staff
Our teachers are brilliant as they make lessons interesting and exciting to keep us interested in learning. They work very hard to make sure that we have the best possible experiences at primary school. They really care about us & want all of us to be able to do our very best. They help us with our learning and are always there to help us with any problems that we might have.
“All the people in school love me and look after me because we are a family!”
“Staff put lots of effort into our lessons turning something that could be boring into something that is fun.”
No 4. After School Club
The Junior Leadership Team strongly believe that our Breakfast and After School Club is the best in the world.
We provide wrap around care from 7:30am-5:45pm everyday.
In After School Club, pupils do a range of sports, arts and craft activities and with their friends they play with lots of games and toys. They also have a healthy breakfast or snack during each session.
“It’s the best ASC in the world as we can play on the computers/watch films/play with our friends and we have great snacks.”
No 5. The library
Our school library is well stocked with a huge range of fiction and non fiction books to enjoy. Pupils go to the library weekly to choose a new book and listen to stories as a class.
We promote reading in lots of different ways in school, with one of our favourite being READy Brek, which is a weekly event in which families come into school to read together.
“ All of the books are really interesting and you can always look around and find a book that fits you perfectly”.
No 6. Behaviour:
We feel that one of the top things about our fantastic school was the amazing behaviour of the children!
We have the best children at St Mary's and we reward their positive behaviours for learning as well as the kindness and respect they show towards others and their determination to follow the school rules.
“People are kind to each other. We know we are all different and we like that”.
No 7. Trips and residentials:
Educational visits are not only fun but they enrich our curriculum and help bring learning to life. We go to fantastic places like: The Deep, the seaside, Magna, Kelham Island, The English Institute of Sport, Crucial Crew, Whitby and Weston Park Museum to name a few. We also go on incredible residential visits to places like Kingswood and The Oaks.
“Trips are load of fun and I like learning hands on with my friends”.
“The Oaks is so much fun! It’ the best thing ever!”
No 8. Playtimes
Our playtimes are the best time of the day where we can let off steam & chill with friends. We have well trained Play Leaders who organise a different team game each day, help us & we always try to play nicely with each other so that no one ever feels left out. We also have plenty of friends & our school is a ‘Bully Free Zone’, so no bullying is every allowed!
“I love our new climbing frame as it’s loads of fun!”
“I like that if someone is sad at playtime, someone else always checks to see if they are OK”.
No 9. Responsibilities:
We love all of the roles & responsibilities that we get at St Mary’s! These could be special jobs given to you by the teacher for your class as well as bigger roles like being a member of the Junior Leadership Team, a play leader, a Merit Team Captain or a member of the CREW council.
“I like that the teachers give us chances to lead like being in the School Council & being a Merit Captain. It makes us think about what jobs we want to do in the future.”
“Everybody in my class can have a special job to do if they want to be a monitor, but I’m really waiting for next year because I so want to be a Merit Captain!”
No 10.
"We rise above the ordinary!"