A Royal Start to the Year

As we reach the end of our first half term, it is wonderful to reflect on just how much has happened at St Francis’. It has been a fantastic start to the new academic year, filled with exciting learning, sporting achievement, faith, service and many opportunities for our children to grow in confidence and experience new things.

One of the real highlights has been seeing our new federation continue to grow. Our developing partnership with our sister school, St Mary’s, is already providing some wonderful opportunities for children from both schools to learn, compete and experience new things together.

A Royal Encounter at Abbeystead

One experience that I am sure our children will remember for many years was our visit to Abbeystead Estate as part of the Learn Moor outdoor learning programme. Children from St Francis’ and St Mary’s came together to complete six different outdoor activities, developing their teamwork, resilience and confidence whilst enjoying learning beyond the classroom.

The day was made even more special when our children had the opportunity to meet Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne. What an honour! We were incredibly proud of the way the children represented both schools and our federation. Seeing the children from St Francis’ and St Mary’s sharing such a memorable experience together was very special indeed.

Sporting Success

Our Year 3 and 4 children have also represented St Francis’ brilliantly at the Mini Skills Athletics competition, where they competed alongside pupils from St Mary’s and other local schools.

We were absolutely delighted that our children finished second out of seven local schools! This was a fantastic achievement, but just as importantly, the children demonstrated teamwork, determination, encouragement and excellent sportsmanship throughout. We are very proud of them.

Our Year 6 footballers have also been in action, representing St Francis’ against some much bigger schools. Once again, they represented our school superbly. Their determination, resilience and teamwork were wonderful to see, and they should be very proud of the way they conducted themselves both on and off the pitch.

Science Reaches for the Stars!

Science has certainly captured everyone’s imagination this half term with our fantastic Space Week. Every class took part in a range of exciting and interactive lessons exploring space and the wonders of our universe.

The enthusiasm around school was infectious, with children asking questions, investigating, discovering and sharing their new knowledge. The week culminated in a wonderful whole-school assembly where classes shared what they had learnt. It was fantastic to see just how much knowledge the children had gained and, most importantly, how excited they were about their learning.

Bringing History to Life

Fairsnape Class enjoyed a wonderful visit to Samlesbury Hall, providing the children with an opportunity to bring their classroom topic to life. Experiences such as these are an important part of our curriculum at St Francis’, helping children make connections between what they learn in school and the wider world around them.

Celebrating St Francis

This has been a particularly important period for us as we have marked 800 years since the death of our patron, St Francis of Assisi.

The children have produced some beautiful creation-inspired artwork and reflected upon the example St Francis gives us: appreciating God's creation, listening to others, caring for those around us and reaching out to people who are poor or vulnerable.

We were also incredibly grateful to the parents and families who joined us for our very special Mass with Bishop Swarbrick to mark this important anniversary. Having our wider school community come together in faith made the celebration particularly meaningful. Thank you to everyone who joined us.

Following the Little Way

Our celebration of Little Way Week has provided another opportunity for children to put their faith into action. Inspired by St Thérèse of Lisieux and her 'Little Way', children have been encouraged to recognise the difference that small acts of love and kindness can make.

Throughout the week, children completed little acts of kindness for others, closely linking with our school values. Whether helping a friend, including someone, showing kindness or simply noticing when somebody needed support, our children demonstrated that we do not always need to do something enormous to make a difference.

Faith in Action

I continue to be incredibly proud of the work our children do to put their faith into action.

Our Beacon Class Bible Buddies are a wonderful example of this. The children give up some of their lunchtime to work with younger pupils, sharing Bible stories and activities with them. It is lovely to see our older children taking responsibility and helping our younger pupils explore their faith. They are excellent role models.

We are also very fortunate to have Mrs Kirkham, our very own Street Pastor, who supports people experiencing homelessness in Preston. We are collecting clothes to support this important work, alongside collecting tins and food donations for the Ribble Valley Foodbank.

These are much more than collections. They give our children a real and tangible understanding of what it means to serve others and to recognise the needs of people within our wider community.

Running for Macmillan

Our charitable work continued with our Macmillan Fun Run, when children took to the school grounds to raise both money and awareness for Macmillan Cancer Support.

It was fantastic to see the whole school getting involved, enjoying being active whilst recognising that their efforts were supporting an important cause. Thank you, as always, to our families for supporting us with our fundraising and charitable activities.

Celebrating Difference and Inclusion

We also had a fascinating assembly focused on Braille and the importance of accessible communication. We were delighted to welcome Mrs Patten into school to help our children learn more about Braille and how it supports people who are blind or visually impaired.

The children were fascinated by what they learnt and the session provided another important opportunity to talk about inclusion, accessibility and the different ways people experience and communicate with the world around them. Developing this understanding and empathy in our children is an important part of the inclusive community we want St Francis’ to be.

So Much to Celebrate

What strikes me most when looking back over this first half term is the breadth of opportunities our children have experienced.

From meeting a Princess to competing on the football pitch; from exploring space to stepping into history at Samlesbury Hall; from outdoor adventures with our friends at St Mary’s to quiet acts of kindness inspired by St Thérèse; and from Bible Buddies to supporting foodbanks and people experiencing homelessness, our children have embraced so much.

Most importantly, throughout all these experiences, they have continued to demonstrate the values we hold dear at St Francis’: faith, kindness, service, respect and care for one another.

I would like to thank our fantastic staff for making these opportunities possible, our parents and governors for their continued support and, of course, our wonderful children who make St Francis’ the special place that it is.

It has certainly been a royal start to the year, and I cannot wait to see what the next half term brings!