15th November 2024
Dear Parents and Carers,
This Week in School
It was another busy week at St George’s. We held a special Remembrance Day assembly on Monday, when we reflected on the significance of D-Day and remembered the contribution of the many people who contributed to its success. At the end of the assembly, we observed a 2-minute silence, and the children were appropriately respectful and reverent during this time.
Year 6 attended the Parish Mass on Wednesday morning and Mr Hughes was delighted with the children in his class, as they behaved well and represented the school with care and maturity. On Thursday, Mrs Earp and I took a group of KS2 children to the lunchtime Mass, and they were equally as wonderful. We had lots of positive comments from members of the parish about our pupils this week and these were fed back to the children.
We held a tour of the school for prospective parents on Thursday morning and this was very well attended. It is always a joy to give parents a tour of the school and for them to see our pupils enjoying their learning. Visitors are always impressed by the behaviour and work ethic of our pupils, and by the fantastic amenities we have, including the swimming pool and sports hall, along with our field, which is generously sized for a town centre school. Along with this, a wonderful team of teachers and support staff, specialist EAL and PE teachers, a qualified PFSA and two ELSA trained assistants on site to support our pupils is a strong selling point. It is lovely to see the school through the eyes of first-time visitors and reminds us how special it is to be a part of the St George’s community.
Important Notice regarding EYFS Resources and Equipment
Our Reception Class staff work very hard to make the outdoor EYFS area neat, tidy and attractive for their pupils. The area is set up at 3pm for the following day, but increasingly, the staff are finding that due to the resources being handled, played with and generally disturbed during morning drop off and afternoon pick up, they are having to spend an extra 15 minutes a day having to re-set the resources. Please can we politely but firmly remind you that the resources in this area are for use by the EYFS pupils during school hours only and should not be touched, moved or played with by others. Thank you in advance for your support with this – it is greatly appreciated.
Christmas Hamper Raffle
The school will be running the Christmas Hamper Raffle this year. We will hold a Mufti Day on Friday 29th November when the children can come to school in their own clothes for the day in exchange for a donation which will be used to create the Christmas Hampers.
Suggested items are listed below for each year group:
Reception Class Gifts for a Female
Class 1 Gifts for a Male
Class 2 Gifts for Girls
Class 3 Gifts for Boys
Class 4 Food (food items suitable for a hamper; no perishable items, please)
Class 5 Drink (including alcoholic or non-alcoholic)
Class 6 Anything goes - a suitable item of your choice, or something from the list above
Your support with donations is much appreciated.
Violin Tuition
Please see the attached leaflet detailing violin tuition that is being offered by a local private school music teacher.
Amenities and Swimming
Please can we remind you that this term’s contribution for your child’s swimming lessons - £10 per term per child, is due. Can we also remind you that the amenities contribution is due. This allows us to fund our exciting extracurricular events such as theatre companies, performers and visiting artists. This should be paid to the school bank account, ending in 7152. Please quote reference ‘S’ for Swimming and ‘A’ for Amenities. Please contact the school office if you have any queries about this.
Attendance
As a school, we are committed to working with families to ensure that our pupils have the best attendance possible so they can make the most of their learning opportunities. Some absences are unavoidable, and we are aware of this. We understand that children do get ill and there are lots of bugs around this winter season. However, it is a statutory requirement for all schools to monitor attendance and to be robust in the actions taken to tackle any attendance concerns. In line with our attendance policy, we must monitor attendance percentages and send letters to families where the percentages drop below a certain figure. Some families will be receiving letters next week. It is important to keep children’s attendance as consistent as possible and our intentions in writing to you are to keep you informed of your child’s current attendance figures and to offer to work with you in any way, we can ensure the highest levels of attendance possible for your child. We appreciate your understanding and support.
Children In Need – Class 4 Cake Sale
A Big Thank you to all the children in Class 4 and to the parents for all your donations of delicious cakes to raise money for Children in Need. We are always keen to support such good causes and we are delighted to announce that as a school community, with your generous support, we raised a whopping £215. There is a wealth of information related to the events happening today on the BBC to support the cause on the Children in Need website. You can also make donations online.
Parent Volunteers – Year 3
We are seeking volunteers to support with reading in Year 3. If you can help with this, please get in touch with the school office to inform them of your availability and to discuss DBS checks. Your support is appreciated.
We hope you have a lovely weekend.
Best wishes,
Edwina McDonnell
Headteacher
Upcoming Dates:
Wednesday 20th November - Tour of the School for Prospective Parents– 2pm
Tuesday 26th November – Christmas Book Fair – After School
Friday 29th November – Pupils to wear MUFTI for Xmas hamper gift donation
Tuesday 10th December – EYFS/Reception Class Nativity – 2.30pm
Wednesday 11th December – KS1 Nativity matinee performance – 2pm
Thursday 12th December – KS1 Nativity evening performance – 6pm
Tuesday 17th December – End of Term Mass in Church 9.30am – Mince pies/hot drinks in the Busy Room afterwards, served by Year 6 pupils
Wednesday 18th December – Carol Concert in Church – 2pm
Thursday 19th December – Christmas Dinner Day – remember to order your child’s lunch!
Saturday 21st December – SCHOOL CLOSED for the Christmas Holidays
Monday 6th January – SCHOOL REOPENS
