11th June 2021
Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you all had a smashing half-term and enjoyed the glorious weather! It would be brilliant if we now had many weeks of sunshine! Please remember to send your child/ren to school wearing sun lotion, a sun hat and extra water bottle.
Mrs McDonnell has often commented about the St George’s Bubble and it is a lovely description of our community. I feel extremely privileged to be in the St George’s Bubble! There is such a super atmosphere around the school and you all play a huge part in making the school what it is.
Thank you for your on-going support and kindness.
Mrs Mitchell
Mrs Mitchell had made the decision to retire after many happy years at St George’s. We are really sad to be losing such a lovely member of the team but completely understand why this decision has been made. Mrs Mitchell deserves a long, happy and healthy retirement with her husband, Ray and her family. She is really upset to be leaving the school and has taken much time deliberating over her decision. We will miss ‘Lovely Mary’ very very much and she knows that she will always be welcome at St George’s.
Did you spot the excited Year Five children with tents this morning?
It was absolutely wonderful to see the excitement of our Year Five children this morning as they walked into school ready for their day on the river and an overnight camp at St George’s. A huge thank you to the Year 5 team and Mr C for making this possible. Thank you to all the Year 5 parents for the loan of tents and also for helping set them up! What a team!
Have you noticed a slight change to the Year Six uniform?
The Year Six hoodies have arrived and have been given to 30 very happy and excited Year Six children. They were absolutely thrilled with them! Thank you to Helen Mac Connell for organising this. The children will be wearing these for the remainder of their time at St George’s.
Did you read about the exciting ‘Beat the Street’ Challenge?
We will be sending out some exciting information and resources next week about the Taunton Beat the Street challenge next week and Mr C will be uploading a video on our website to explain everything you need to know.
In the meantime, visit beatthestreet.me/taunton
Are there any updates on the traffic in Taunton?
I contacted the Traffic Management Team at the County Council yesterday about the current situation, please see their reply below:
The updated works programme is still being finalised by Mata Construction, and as these are not SCC promoted works I am reliant on these regular updates, but I can provide the following as a result of yesterday’s meeting which I hope is of use to you in your school newsletter.
There is good news in that the works are as per programme and due to complete on the 25th June based on current progress. At present two way traffic flow is being maintained on the A38 under temporary signal control and we are not seeing the level of delays we had at the start of the works, traffic is relatively free flowing. There will however be a period of four days next week when traffic will be restricted to one way flow under temporary signal control, but our development engineering team are working with Mata to minimise the impact and will be investigating if these works could be undertaken outside of the School drop off and pick up times, we will make it clear it is our preference to open the traffic up to two way traffic at peak times.
If parents have any further questions they can e-mail developmentengineering@somerset.gov.uk or phone our contact centre on 0300 123 2224. The generic inbox is regularly monitored and any e-mails or call are recorded on our system and allocated to the correct person to respond to. Enquiries directed to personal e-mail addresses will not get recorded in the same way and may not be picked up for some time if an individual is away from the office or has other commitments.
I have also attached the consultation for the Prohibition of Right Turn from A38 Mary Street on to The Mount and this can be viewed at https://www.somerset.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/road-closures-and-restrictions/; if anybody has any objections then they can email Trafficmanagement@somerset.gov.uk quoting Reference KT29042021 and have had 21 days from the publication of the attached notice.
Parking on the playground
The current situation emphasises more than ever the need for safe driving and increased awareness on the roads. This includes the car park playground. Please be extra vigilant when approaching the school and on the premises. Mr Davies and I aim to have the children returned to cars as quickly as possible but we need everyone to support by ensuring that the children and families are safe. Can I please ask pedestrians to stay aware of the traffic on the playground. Mr Davies will put a cone at the entrance gates to block any cars entering the playground as soon as the children start to leave the premises.
Have you heard that the pool is open again for St George’s pupils?
It was incredibly moving to see the excitement of the children and staff on the re-opening of the school pool this week. The children were absolutely thrilled to be back swimming! Thank you all for your support and positive comments about swimming at St George’s.
Have you heard about the wonderful work our School Chaplains do?
We are very lucky to have such a committed team of School Chaplains at St George’s. They meet regularly with Mrs McDonnell and support the Catholic ethos of the school through leading assemblies, raising awareness of charities and causes and are outstanding role models. Our School Chaplains will be joining the Chaplains from our local Catholic Schools on Wednesday 23rd June in a virtual meeting.
Mrs McDonnell met with the RE Leads and the Diocesan RE and Catholicity Adviser, Louise White, to look at a sample of RE work completed by the children. I was delighted to receive an email from Louise commenting on how impressed she was with the standard of work. A huge well done to the children and staff.
Prayer Competition
Mrs McDonnell has kindly organised a prayer competition and a template was sent out to all children. We would like as many entries as possible. Prayers will be selected and included in the Chaplain’s Newsletter.
