Peace Matters - Our Trip to Parliament!:

What an extraordinary privilege it has been to witness our children take their passion for peace onto one of the most important stages in our country this week. On Wednesday, our Junior Peace Mala Ambassadors from Year 5 and Year 6 travelled to Parliament to lead a workshop on how we teach peace here at St Matthew's, and I can honestly say it was a day that will stay with us all for many years to come.

This remarkable opportunity would not have been possible without the unwavering support of our MP, Andrew Weston, who has been such a constant champion of our work and our values. Andrew recognised the power of what our children are doing and helped us share our peace message far beyond the walls of St Matthew's. He brought together MPs from across the country to join us for this fabulous event, including Caroline Nokes, Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, and their genuine interest in what our children had to say was truly moving and for staff quite emotional at times.

Our children stood with such confidence and purpose, sharing the profound message of peace that runs through every religious scripture. They taught the visiting MPs about our Peace Mala initiative and what it means to us as a school family. With each bracelet they gifted to every MP who visited us, our children were sharing far more than a beautiful piece of jewellery. They were teaching a powerful message about treating others with love and care, about our shared humanity, and about the fundamental right that every single person has to peace. To see our young people articulate these values so eloquently, and to watch the MPs listen with such genuine attention, was deeply moving.

The children and staff were then given a tour of the Houses of Parliament, and what a tour it was! Walking through the great hall and into the House of Commons and House of Lords, seeing the very spaces where decisions are made that affect each and every one of us, brought home the significance of the day. We were then given the special privilege of visiting the King's Robing Room, seeing the many special places within Parliament where the work of governance happens with Andrew leading the tour. For our children to stand in these historic spaces and understand that their voice, their message, and their passion for peace matters, was truly special.

But the day did not end there. We celebrated the success of the event and tour with a picnic in St James's Park, where the children could reflect on all they had experienced and share their excitement with one another in glorious sunshine. The weather could not have been better! Then we walked up to Buckingham Palace, that most famous building in London, bringing our day to a close in a way that felt both joyful and fitting. What a day to remember indeed.

What strikes me most profoundly about this experience is the reminder it gives us all about the importance of the message our children were sharing. In every religious scripture, across every faith and belief system, there is a call for peace. There is a call to treat others with love and care, to recognise the dignity in every person, and to work towards a world where peace is not just an ideal but a lived reality. The importance of sharing this message has never been more vital than it is right now. Our children understood this instinctively. They did not need to be told that peace matters; they felt it, they believed it, and they were eager to share it with the most senior figures in our country. That is the spirit of St Matthew's. That is what we stand for as a school community.

I want to extend our deepest gratitude to the MPs who joined us and who took the time to listen to what our children had to say. Your presence, your attention, and your willingness to receive the peace message from our young people meant more than words can express. Thank you for recognising that our children have something important to teach us all.

To our children and staff on the day, including Mr Thornley and Ms Derrick (both fabulous parents who supported our trip), who represented St Matthew's with such grace, such enthusiasm, and such heart, I am immensely proud of you. You carried our values with you to Parliament, and you shared them with generosity and conviction and most definitely let your light shine. You have shown that age is no barrier to making a difference, and that young voices matter.

An extra special thank you must also go to Miss Bennett, from our Admin Team who organised this trip with MP Andrew Weston’s Personal Assistant. From booking our train tickets and minibuses to gathering the many things that we need to ensure a safe trip for all, such as first aid kits, risk assessments, plans and times for the day, contact details for each child in case of delays. Her planning was meticulous and to have both her and her fabulous husband give up their non-working days to ensure the trip was seamless from beginning to end was beyond kind. We cannot thank them both enough!

As we move forward, let us carry the spirit of this day with us. Let us continue to teach Peace Mala, to live peace, and to share the message that every person deserves to be treated with love and respect. Our children have shown us that this message can reach the highest levels of Government. Now it is our responsibility to ensure it continues in every corner of our school community and beyond Greater Manchester.

What a wonderful way to let our lights shine!

Another Wonderful Week has passed us by! :

What a wonderful week we have had at St Matthew's! As reflect on all that has happened, I am filled with such pride and joy at the way our school community continues to come together to celebrate, learn, and support one another.

We started the week with St Patrick's Day, and what a fantastic opportunity this provided for us to learn all about this important festival for the Irish community. The children embraced the day with enthusiasm, wearing green to mark the occasion and to feel a part of the celebrations. It was lovely to see our school so vibrant and colourful, and it reminded me of one of the things I love most about St Matthew's – our commitment to understanding and celebrating the diverse cultures and traditions that make up our wider community. These moments of shared celebration help us all to grow in empathy and respect for one another.

St Matthew's Peace Keepers

I must take a moment to share something truly remarkable that happened this week. Our Junior Peace Mala Ambassadors travelled to London to hold a workshop on the importance of the Peace Mala with Members of Parliament in the Houses of Parliament. I cannot tell you how incredibly proud I am of these children. They demonstrated such courage, passion, and eloquence in sharing their message about peace with such important figures. What struck me most was that these children understood something really significant – that no matter your age and size, if your message is an important one, people will listen. This is such a powerful lesson for all of us. Our Peace Mala Ambassadors have shown that young voices matter, and that when we have something meaningful to say about making our world a better place, we have the power to be heard. They are an absolute credit to themselves, their families, and St Matthew's.

Easter Preparation

Behind the scenes, our Willow class and Year 4 have been working incredibly hard rehearsing the Easter Story as we prepare for our performance at Church next week. The dedication and commitment shown by these children has been wonderful to witness. There is something quite special about watching children bring a story to life through drama and performance, and I know that our Church performance is going to be a truly memorable occasion. I do hope you will be able to join us to celebrate their hard work and talent.

Supporting Kickstart

This week we also supported Kick Starts' fundraising Cake Sale for Red Nose Day. It was heartwarming to see our school community come together to support such an important cause. Whether it was through baking, buying, or simply spreading the word, everyone played a part in making a difference. These are the moments that remind me why our school is so special – we don't just focus on academic achievement, important as that is, but we also nurture in our children a sense of responsibility and compassion towards others.

As I always say, our children let their lights shine. This week has been no exception. Whether it has been through their enthusiasm for learning about different cultures, their bravery in standing up for what they believe in, their dedication to rehearsing for our Easter performance, or their generosity in supporting charitable causes – every single child in this school has something special to offer. I am constantly amazed by their resilience, their kindness, and their willingness to embrace new experiences and challenges

Star of the Week

As always, we look forward to hearing all about the special achievements of our children in our Star of the Week Assembly. Listening to each of our wonderful teachers speak so highly of a child in their class, who has let their light shine so brightly it has impacted on everyone’s week, is why this assembly is the best way to end the week! Please see the attached table to see which children have been awarded this special recognition this week.

House Points

Malala

3399

Mandela

4121

Pankhurst

3745

Turing

3969

 

I'm delighted to offer another huge congratulations to Mandela House for winning this week's house points – and for an impressive few weeks in a row! The team spirit across our school community is absolutely amazing, and it's wonderful to see such positive competition bringing everyone together.

Well done to everyone for embodying the very best of Our St Matthew's Way.

Attendance

This week has been one of our lowest in terms of attendance. I cannot express enough how important it is that the children are in school every day! Please support our school family by making sure your child is in school and on time every day.

A huge well done goes to Year 2 class as they worked so hard to improve their attendance. As you all know, the goal is to get our classes to 97% - 100%, as you can see, we have only one class reach this, this week ☹

Come on St Matthew’s, let’s see if we can get all classes to 97%, that would be just amazing!

Class	%
Nursery	95
Reception	95
Year 1	96
Year 2	97
Year 3	89
Year 4	89
Year 5	93
Year 6	91

 

Future Events

As we move forward into the final weeks of this term, there are a couple of important dates and events I would like to remind you about. We have an Eid Mubarak Arts and Crafts session after school on Monday 23rd March at 3:00pm in the main hall. This is a wonderful opportunity for our children to engage in creative activities whilst learning about and celebrating the festival of Eid. I do hope many of you will be able to take part.

Our Easter Performance at St Matthew's Church will take place on Thursday 26th March at 9:45am. This is always such a special occasion in our calendar, and I would love to see as many of you there as possible to support our children and celebrate the hard work they have put in.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support of St Matthew's. It is through working together as a community that we create such a positive and nurturing environment for our children to learn and grow.

 Eid Mubarak to all of our families celebrating today!  May this special day bring peace, happiness, and prosperity to your lives.  Wishing you and your family a joyful and blessed Eid for all of your St Matthew's Family! 

Wonderful work, St Matthew's!:

What a wonderful week we've had at St Matthew's! Starting on Monday with all of the classes celebrating International Women's Day, it's was truly special to see our children engaging with the stories of remarkable women who have shaped our world. 

At St Matthew’s each year group explored a different inspiring figure through the Little People, Big Dreams series for International Women's Day. Year 6 have been learning about Kamala Harris, who made history on January 20, 2021, when she became the first woman, the first African American woman, the first Indian-American, and the first person of Asian-American descent to be sworn in as Vice President of the United States. Year 5 discovered the incredible story of Malala Yousafzai, whose courage and determination to fight for girls' right to education led her to become, at just seventeen years old, the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Year 4 have been inspired by Emmeline Pankhurst and her powerful motto "deeds not words" as she campaigned for women's voting rights. Our younger children in Year 3 and 2 have learned about Rosa Parks, whose brave refusal to give up her seat on a bus sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped end legal segregation. Year 1 have explored Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, who saved countless lives through her dedication and innovation. Even our EYFS children have been celebrating Vivienne Westwood, whose creative vision brought punk and new wave fashion into the mainstream and earned her recognition as one of Britain's most influential artists. 

I'm delighted to share that Willow and Year 4 have been working incredibly hard rehearsing their Easter Performance, which they'll be sharing with us at church on Thursday 26th March. The children's enthusiasm and dedication have been wonderful to witness and as always, we love to hear them singing. 

Meanwhile, Woodlands have enjoyed a beautiful Spring Walk around our grounds, and what a joy it's been to see them spotting all the signs that spring is truly here at St Matthew's. I was lucky enough to get back into the classroom and teach EYFS on that morning. There's something magical about watching small people discover the natural world on their doorstep. Our Early Years children see such awe and wonder in the smallest things. Their excitement was amazing whilst they explored our wonderful grounds. We had the best morning, and how lucky am I to do get the chance to work with them! Their little lights shining, buzzing around the grounds finding all the joys of spring, it was just fabulous! 

Attendance

On a practical note, I wanted to mention our attendance figures from last week. We were just under the national average at 95%, compared to the national figure of 95.9%. We continue to see our persistent absences affecting our overall attendance data. Regular attendance is so important for our children's learning and progress, and we'd really appreciate your support in ensuring your child is in school every day they're able to be. Year 6 children's attendance in particular, really does need to improve!

Let’s work together to improve our attendance as to get the best possible life chances for every child we need to be at school every single day! The goal is to get our classes to 97% - 100%. Together, we can do it! Come on St Matthew's. Let’s try and beat National figures this week, remember we only needed 1%, we have got this! 

Week beginning 9^th March 2026

Class	Attendance %
Nursery	90
Reception	90
Year One	96
Year Two	93
Year Three	97
Year Four	98
Year Five	95
Year Six	95

 

Stars of the week

Please find our wonderful stars of the week attached to this post. I say this week after week, I do love our Friday Star of The Week Assemblies, getting the chance to listen to the teachers speak with such passion about how our children have shown our values or the St Matthew's Wayis just awesome! It's important that we take time to hear their growth and share how proud we are of them. A huge WELL DONE to each child who was celebrated today and let their light shine.

Success- We are now a School Street!

We always love to hear how our children have ‘Let their light shine’ but this time, I have some news to share of how we let our lights shine as a community. I have had confirmation from School Streets yesterday that we have been successful in our bid to become a School Street, with 100% of the people who supported our bid in the consultation period saying it would be the best possible way of ensuring the children safety! Well done, everyone! Olly and Caris have already taken up posts as School Street 

House News

In our house news, we heard that Mandela won our houses again in our assembly this morning. We love the way Mandela work together and let their light shine on mass as they are absolutely racing ahead now. It is going to take real focus to ensure that the other houses catch them up but we reminded our children that it will be teamwork that helps them catch up our clear leaders. As working together is what makes the difference.

Malala

3284

Mandela

3966

Pankhurst

3601

Turing

3824

New Headpupils have been announced!

Mr Glinka and Miss Charles met this week to review our Head Pupils. As promised, we have decided it is better to give more than 2 children these prestigious roles. This is by no means an easy decision as the Year 6 children would all love the honour of becoming our Head Pupils. After lots of discussion, Eva D and Ziggy were given the roles. We are so proud of both children and feel that their new positions in school are well deserved. 

Finally, a huge thank you to all the staff and families of St Matthew's! We have had another week of reduced numbers of staffing but we have pulled together and let our lights shine for the children. I cannot thank you all enough. The week has been quite smooth and this has meant that the children can still focus on their learning!

Remember, rest is the best way to ensure we get off to a good start next week! 

Let's hope the weather is a little better, or it will be a very wet Parkrun tomorrow! 

Have a fantastic weekend everyone! 

The Week that brought us World Book Day Magic!:

What a week it has been at St Matthew's! I find myself reflecting on the power of stories and the values they instil in us all. This week, our World Book Day celebrations truly brought that home in the most wonderful way.

Our staff came together to bring stories to life, and what a sight it was! Each member of our team embodied a character that represents one of our school values, and I was genuinely moved by the creativity and thoughtfulness behind every choice. From Harry Potter's bravery and kindness, to Rainbow Fish's generosity, and Fantastic Mr Fox's clever perseverance – these aren't just characters from beloved books, they're reminders of the values we work so hard to nurture in our children every single day. The Very Hungry Caterpillar joined us too, symbolising growth and transformation, whilst Postman Pat reminded us of the importance of reliability and showing up for one another. And I have to say, Gangster Granny was a particular highlight – what a wonderful message that it's never too late to chase your dreams and be a cool granny one day!

Mr Glinka showing real determination and perseverance by sharing his featured appearance on a book cover about non-league football, where he attended a football match where it had snowed so heavily, that many spectators left. He was one of only few who stayed on to support the players in these terrble conditions, someone took his photograph covered in snow and it was then used on the front cover. These are the kind of real-life examples that show our children that the values we celebrate in stories are lived out every day by the people around them. That's powerful stuff.

Alongside our World Book Day festivities, we've had quite a busy week operationally. We've held our Multiplication Tables Check Meeting, ensuring we're well-prepared to support our children in this important assessment. We've also been busy planning ahead for our Year 5 children's visit to Robinwood in September 2026, I'm confident it will be an unforgettable experience for them and cannot say enough how much this is a part of the transitional process of preparing our Y6 children for high school. 

On the sporting front, I'm thrilled to report that our Football Team has been out representing St Matthew's at a local tournament this week. They won one match and lost one, and I want to make it absolutely clear that they should be tremendously proud of themselves. It's not just about the wins and losses – it's about the effort, the teamwork, the resilience, and the team spirit they've shown. That's what matters, we feel they just go from strength to strength every time they play. A huge thank you to Mr Glinka and Miss Bradburn for ensuring the children get these opportunities to play!

Star of the Week

As always, we look forward to hearing all about the special achievements of our children in our Star of the Week Assembly. Listening to each of our wonderful teachers speak so highly of a child in their class, who has let their light shine so brightly it has impacted on everyone’s week, is why this assembly is the best way to end the week! Please see the attached table to see which children have been awarded this special recognition this week.

Home Achievements

We must celebrate two of our remarkable children who have recently shared their incredible achievements with us. Joshua in Year 3 brought in his grading certificate and yellow belt from Karate. He also brought in his Football Trophy, which he had won, his skills are growing in all sports. He told us that he assisted two goals and actually scored two goals. Well done, Joshua.

We also had the pleasure of celebrating with Amelia in Willow, who shared that she had been recognised for her and her family's costume making skills in the Manchester Evening News. Amelia joined us at the front of the hall and shared how her and her mum made her Dog Man Costume. We are so proud of her. 

These moments remind us all of the importance of celebrating every success. Keep letting your light shine Amelia and Joshua. Your St Matthew's Family are so proud of you!

House Points

Malala

3207

Mandela

3811

Pankhurst

3503

Turing

3710

I'm delighted to offer another huge congratulations to Mandela House for winning this week's house points – and for an impressive few weeks in a row! The team spirit across our school community is absolutely amazing, and it's wonderful to see such positive competition bringing everyone together.

The excitement doesn't stop there. Turing House is thinking "team is the dream" and getting increasingly close to the top spot. With the competition remaining so tight, next week could see another house claim victory. The energy and enthusiasm from every single child is truly inspiring.

Well done to everyone for embodying the very best of St Matthew's values.

Attendance

We celebrated our highest attending class in assembly this week, which was Year 4 this week! A huge well done goes to this class as they worked so hard to improve their attendance. As you all know, the goal is to get our classes to 97% - 100%, as you can see, we are getting so close now, with four classes on target! Well done, everyone! Come on St Matthew’s, let’s see if we can get all classes to 97%, that would be just amazing!

Class	%
Nursery	91
Reception	95
Year 1	97
Year 2	92
Year 3	96
Year 4	98
Year 5	97
Year 6	90

SENDCO Absence 

Any parents/carers who have appointments with the SENDCo over the next few weeks will still go ahead. Miss Tyrer and myself will be covering these meetings. If you have any worries regarding SEND children or meetings that are set to take place, please send an email to admin@stmatthewsce.co.uk and either myself or Miss Tyrer will get back to you as soon as we possibly can. 

Special thanks

Before I finish, I must take a moment to celebrate someone who has been absolutely outstanding this week. Miss Tyrer has managed to juggle planning for two classes whilst keeping you all informed through Weduc about the events happening in different classrooms with staff absences. On top of that, she led two vital parents' evenings in my absence, when I was needed for meetings elsewhere. That's not just competence – that's going above and beyond. Miss Tyrer, thank you. Your dedication and professionalism have not gone unnoticed, and I'm genuinely grateful for everything you do for our school community.

I am sure you will join me in thanking all of the staff this week. This has been a really changeable week and the staff have given their absolute all. I am so proud of how they have all come together to ensure that our children had the most magical World Book Day! Which I am sure you will agree was a great event! 

As we move forward, I'm reminded once again of why I love being part of St Matthew's. It's because of moments like these – where stories inspire us, where our staff embody our values, where our children show courage and determination, and where our team steps up to support one another. That's the heart of what we do here.

I hope you've enjoyed hearing about our week as much as I've enjoyed living it with you all.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone,

Miss Lynton

 

Join us in the hall after school for arts and crafts and to learn all about this wonderful celebration for our Muslim families.

Y6 parents, join us in the hall at 2pm as the children share all the wonderful ways they are learning to prepare for SATS in May 2026.

Year 3 & 4 will be performing for the whole school and their families at St Matthew's Church as they use drama to help us learn more about the Easter story.

Family fun with our EYFS children and their parents and carers.

School reopens on Monday 20th April.