30th September 2022
Dear Parents and Carers,
This Week in School
A change in the weather has certainly come. There is a chill in the air and it is feeling a lot less summery and a little more wintry! The time for winter coats, hats, gloves and scarves is almost upon us. It is a good time to dig out last winter’s items of clothing, and to take stock of what still fits and what children may have grown out of.
We will do our best, with rising energy costs, to keep the children and the school building warm this winter. And if your house is anything like mine, you will routinely be reminding children to put on an extra layer before complaining that they are cold: we will all need to be a little extra careful with our thermostats in the coming months. In the same vein, we are encouraging staff and children to wrap up warmly this winter and to put an extra layer on. We are all used to doing this since last winter, when we had to keep rooms well ventilated due to Covid. We appreciate your support with this.
St Margaret’s Hospice – School Mufti Day
On Friday, 7th October, we will be supporting this worthy charity by holding a mufti day. We are asking children to wear an item of yellow clothing and to bring a £1.00 donation.
Parent’s Evening
Do remember to book your Parent’s Evening appointment with your child’s teacher on our school website. Please email or write to your child’s teacher if you have difficulty finding an available slot.
If you have any trouble logging on, or have forgotten your login details, please contact the school office.
Medical Forms
If you are the parent or carer of a child with a medical need, we request that you make sure your child’s teacher is informed of the condition. If your child needs, or may need, medication to be administered in school (for example, an inhaler) we ask that you fill in and return a Form 3B. Please let class teachers or office staff know if you need a form to fill in.
Harvest Mass – Readers Needed
On Sunday 16th October, children from our school will help to lead a Harvest Mass at St George’s Church. This will be at 9.15am. We are asking that members of the choir are present to add their lovely voices to the occasion. In addition, if any child would like to read at the Mass, do encourage them to let me know and I will try my best to find them a reading part.
Attendance
As you know, we have fallen below our attendance targets for the last academic year. We are a few weeks in, and we have had record numbers of parents requesting term-time leave already. As a school, we would remind all parents that taking children out of school during term time should only happen in the most exceptional of circumstances, and as a very last resort. Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure that their children attend school, and it can cause children to fall behind in their learning, and for gaps in knowledge to form between them and their peers. We would ask that sincere thought is given before requesting term time leave. Are the circumstances exceptional? Can the activity take place during an allotted school holiday? We value your support with this, and we look forward to continuing to work together to ensure pupils at our school to achieve their full potential.
Best wishes for a lovely weekend,
Edwina McDonnell
Upcoming Dates:
Friday 7th October – Mufti Day for St Margaret’s Hospice – Wear Yellow and Donate £1
Monday 10th October – Year 2 and Year 4 Parent Evenings (alternative date due to teacher’s course)
Wednesday 12th Oct – Harvest Festival Service in School, 9:30a.m.
Sunday 16th October – Harvest Mass at Church, 9.30 am
Monday 17th October – Parents’ Evening 5.30 pm – 7.30 pm
Tuesday 18th October – Parents’ Evening 3.30 pm – 5.30 pm
Saturday 22nd October – Sunday 30th October: SCHOOL CLOSED (Half-Term)
