On Thursday 4th February 2016, Y5 rocked the Birmingham Town Hall with their fabulous singing, as part of the Hagley Pyramid Concert! Nine schools, including OLSK, went to celebrate Mass at St Chad's Cathedral before performing in the concert in the evening! We are extremely proud of our children; they were great ambassadors for our school; they looked really smart and they lifted the roof with their singing! A huge thank you to Miss Alsop, Mrs Foley, Mr Ginder and Miss Costello for supporting them on the day! Well done everyone; you were truly amazing!
Pope Francis has called on Catholics around the world to use the ongoing Jubilee year of mercy to “open wide” the doors of their hearts to forgive others and to work against social exclusion, even of those that may have caused them bother or upset.
In his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square Wednesday, the pontiff said that walking through any of the holy doors open in dioceses around the world for the Jubilee year should be a sign of “true conversion of our heart.”
“When we go through that door, it is good to remember that we must also open wide the doors of our heart,” said Francis, suggesting people can even stand before the holy door and ask: “Lord, help me to open the doors of my heart!”
“The holy year won’t be very effective if the doors of our heart do not let Christ enter, who pushes us to go towards others, to bring him and his love,” said the pope.
“Therefore, as the holy door remains open because it is the sign of the welcoming that God himself reserves for us, so also our doors -- those of the heart -- must always be open to not exclude anyone,” he said. “Not even those that bother me. No one!”
In school, we have decorated our classrooms to celebrate this wonderful year!
As part of our ongoing vision, and with science firmly on the map at OLSK- in the hearts of our children, we were delighted to be able to share teaching and learning with our local school Halesowen C of E primary. We invited their year 6 class to come and learn and take part in new science investigations, ranging from creating rainbows in test tubes, to meteor craters using flour and cocoa powder.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and Halesowen were so well behaved and talented, they really shone out on behalf of their school! Our OLSK science assistants (pupils) ran directed the experiments, each having their own group from Halesowen C of E. All o the children worked so well together and as a specialist in science, I defiantly feel that I was in the presence of future budding scientists! Well done to all who attended, creating curiosity all around us!
Well, once again the pupils and parents of OLSK have proven to be super scientists, driving our passion for creating curiosity, by taking part in out whole school science Fair. We had entries from across all year groups, from year 1 right up to year 6!
The projects were based upon investigation carried out by the children at home, starting with their own question, followed by a hypothesis, practical, results write up and evaluation. The standard was phenomenally high and I feel so proud that we are blesses to work with such enthusiastic and talented children (and parents!)
From erupting volcanoes to the science behind the colour spectrum, every aspect of science was covered by these children, showing particular interests in physics, chemistry and biology. I hope this enthusiasm continues as the children grow up, and maybe one day we could be looking in the eyes of our future Einstein generation. WOW!
This year in school, we celebrate our 50th Anniversary.
The build up to a special anniversary is always exciting, especially when it commemorates over a century of partnership between school and parish.
In 1965, Our Lady and St Kenelm Catholic School first opened. This year marks 50 years since the school first opened! Although many things have changed over the years and the school and church are in separate buildings, the powerful amalgamation of the two families is clearly visible for all to see and experience.
Leading up to the anniversary, each class held dance workshops to create a festival of dance and song to honour this jubilant occasion. Beautiful productions included dancing through the decades. Staff and children alike, dressed in bright and colourful clothes from the 1960s. All of the marvellous dance creations were celebrated outside in the playground in front of all the parents and a whole school family picnic, was enjoyed by everyone. The varying renditions of songs, dances and drama pieces, showed life through the ages of OLSK School and Church.
On Tuesday 29th September, the celebrations were bought to a joyous end, led by Fr Bruce, with the school and parish community uniting in a beautiful Mass, followed by refreshments in the Phizz Lab. The Mass preceded an after-school tour, which gave past and present pupils, along with parents, friends, parishioners and members of the community, the chance to see how the school has changed and developed over the years. A museum of old photos, year books, newspaper cuttings and relics was also set up in the Phizz Lab for all to enjoy and others to reminisce!
Thank you to all those involved in helping ensure our celebrations were so memorable; we look forward to the next 50 years of ever-blossoming partnership.
It was a truly beautiful Mass and Fr Bruce blessed our new Altar candles, donated to school by Grace Kalinski's family- a past pupil who is currently very sick. Please pray for her and all of our school community.
Today we had great fun in school, to raise funds for CAFOD. All of the staff dressed in school uniform and the children dressed as their favourite teacher. The staff, dressed in school uniform, were told off for not tucking their shirts in, wearing high heels (Mrs Finnegan)undoing their top button, not wearing the correct jumpers or cardigans! Many of the staff were given 'time out' and Miss Marshall lost her Golden Time for wearing a sign on her back saying 'Teachers Smell'!! Everybody had great fun, especially the children! What a great way to raise funds for children who are less fortunate than ours. Thank you for all your contributions!
Mr Brettle worked his magic with all the decoration and the painting. He worked extremely hard during the holidays, to make sure it was all ready for learning when we came back to school! We thank him for all his hard work!
We will be launching the opening of the Phizz Lab during the next few weeks- keep an eye on the calendar for the date! Directors from the Ogden trust will visit school to help us celebrate this new adventure!