10th March 2023
Dear Parents and Carers,
What a week! So often, we are forecast snow that never materialises, so it is inevitable that we doubt it until we see it with our own eyes. However, we were not disappointed on Wednesday and it was lovely to see a light dusting of the white stuff covering the school grounds. Mr Davies and I arrived here nice and early and were shovelling snow and clearing pathways from 7am that morning. We were thankful to see reinforcements arrive not long after, and in true St George’s form, there were 6 or 7 staff members doing all we could to make the school grounds safe for the children’s arrival.
We were grateful for parents support with not parking on the upper playground, but rather keeping to a drop-off system that day. We were concerned about the potential for accidents if cars were to reverse-park in the normal way in such slippery, icy conditions. Mr Davies commented afterwards how smoothly the whole morning had gone, given that it was a bit of a change from the norm, and we all agreed that we were relieved that it was only forecast to last one day! Thank you all again for your continued support with the unique nature of our school grounds. We had many positive and supportive comments from parents at drop off which was lovely to hear.
Teacher’s Strike – Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March
As a school, we appreciate that advance warning of school closures is very important and we would like to give parents as much notice as possible about the remaining strike dates for teachers.
Wednesday, 15th March 2023 – St George’s will be open for all classes.
Thursday 16th March 2023 – The following classes will close: Reception Class, Year 2 and Year 5.
As you can imagine, schools are limited in the safe action that they can take to keep classrooms open during teacher’s strikes. Every school must take into account their reduced staffing levels, SEND needs, appropriate levels of cover for the age groups of the children involved, adhering to legal class size limits of 30 in KS1, in addition to guidance issued by unions and the DfE on how staff can or cannot be redeployed for cover. We must also take into consideration unexpected staff absence due to sickness which, as a school, we have been affected by this week.
We appreciate the difficulties some families are facing in terms of childcare, and we are so grateful for your continued support during this time. Please be reassured that closing classrooms is a last resort for us and when we do this, it is to prioritise safeguarding the children, ensuring they have adequate adult supervision and a safe learning environment.
School Disco/Movie Night
Thank you to the Parent Support Group for their hard work and effort in organising another memorable event for our pupils – seeing the children’s smiling faces really does bring home how lucky we are to have an active, supportive PSG. On behalf on the children, we would like to say a great big THANK YOU!
The Big Walk for CAFOD – Friday 24th March
This Lent, we are supporting CAFOD’s Lenten campaign to raise money for our global neighbours. The children will join together to walk a total of 200km and the money raised will go to support people who have been affected by emergencies such as the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. On Friday 24th March, please send your child to school in their own, brightly coloured clothes and a donation of £1 would be appreciated.
Reception Class – Class Assembly
A reminder for the parents of our Reception Class children that they will be holding their class assembly on Wednesday 15th March at 3pm. This will take place in the main school hall. Please do arrive before the start time to secure a seat as it is sure to be a heart-warming event! We will open the car park gates at 2.50pm. Can we request that if you do take photos, that you do not share these on social media if they have other children in them. Thank you.
Best wishes,
Edwina McDonnell
Upcoming Dates:
Wednesday 15th March – Reception Class Assembly – 3pm. Reception Class parents invited.
Thursday 16th March – Teachers’ Strike – please see information in the paragraph above.
Friday 24th March – The Big Walk for CAFOD – children to wear mufti; £1 donation appreciated.
Wednesday 29th March – Stations of the Cross in School – 9.30am. Parents welcome
Thursday 30th March – End of Term Mass in School at 9.30am
Saturday 1st April – SCHOOL CLOSES for the Easter Break
Monday 17th April – SCHOOL OPEN
Wednesday 19th April, St George’s Day Start of Term Mass in Church, 9.30am
Wednesday 10th May – KS1 and KS2 Marian Procession – 1.45pm / 2.30 pm
Sunday 14th May – Family Mass/School link Mass- 9.15am in Church
Thursday 18th May – Ascension Day Mass in Church – 9.30am
Thursday 29th June – St Peter and St Paul Mass in Church – 9.30 am
Wednesday 19th July – Year 6 Leaver’s Mass in Church – 9.30 am in Church
