22nd November 2024
Dear Parents and Carers,
This Week in School
The weather has turned much colder this week with temperatures dropping close to freezing. Please can we ask you to ensure that your child comes to school well wrapped up, with a warm coat that is thick enough for these low temperatures. Some lighter coats are warm enough for the journey to school in the car, but when children are outside for extended periods of time in this cold weather, they get very shivery, and playtime can feel quite a miserable experience for a child that is cold. It can also affect their learning when they go back into class, as it takes a considerable amount of time for them to ‘thaw out’ if they have gotten very cold. If your family is experiencing difficulty in affording a warm coat for your child this winter, please get in touch with the school as we can provide assistance with this.
On Thursday, the staff and pupils were delighted to see Mrs Buck pop into school to see her St George’s family and her surprise visit certainly put a smile on all our faces. We were also pleased to see Mrs Spence return last week to use her artistic talents to brighten up some of our RE displays, and the wonderful Mrs Weetch came to teach in Year 5 for a day on Tuesday. We even had two visits from Mr Hanratty this week as he continues his role as a Trustee of our Pre-school. What a treat to have so many of our beloved past staff members returning to visit us.
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, highlighting their attendance percentage where it has dropped below a certain figure. Some families will be receiving letters today. 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 to ensure the highest levels of attendance possible for your child. We appreciate your understanding and support.
Children in Need
All donations have now been counted and we are pleased to inform you that the final total raised for Children in Need by our school community is £255.19. What a fantastic achievement and we would like to thank you all for your support in raising this fantastic amount for a very worthy cause.
Book Sale
Miss Roberts, our Year 3 teacher, has arranged for a travelling book fayre to visit the school for 3 afternoons beginning 26th November. The books will be available to view and purchase after the end of the school day. This could be a perfect opportunity to purchase Christmas presents and stocking fillers that will be cherished by young readers! Please see the attached poster for further details. Please note – this will be a cash only event. Cheques will also be accepted.
Christmas Hamper Raffle: Mufti Day- Friday 29th November
The school is 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. Raffle tickets have been given to every family today to help raise much needed funds for the school. The Christmas Hampers raffle will be drawn on Tuesday 17th December so all money and tickets will need to be returned to the school office by no later than Monday 16th December.
Christmas Dinner & Christmas Jumper Day Thursday 19th December
The school office would like to make you aware that Wednesday 11th December is the last day for ordering your child’s Christmas hot dinner. For those parents who are having issues with ordering, please contact the school office. Please check that your child’s Christmas jumper still fits in preparation for the day!
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.
We hope you have a lovely weekend.
Best wishes,
Edwina McDonnell
Headteacher
Upcoming Dates:
Friday 29th November – Pupils to wear MUFTI for Christmas 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!
Thursday 19th December – Christmas Jumper Day
Saturday 21st December – SCHOOL CLOSED for the Christmas Holidays
Monday 6th January – SCHOOL REOPENS
