20th January 2023
Dear Parents and Carers,
The temperatures have dropped significantly this week and Mr Davies and I have really felt the nip in the air in the car park these last few days, as I’m sure you all have too. It is wonderful to see the children coming in well wrapped up in winter coats and looking very snuggly in hats and scarves, despite the cold weather. Mornings are very busy and I know myself it can be a struggle to get out the door on time, laden down with sports kits, lunch boxes and water bottles etc. On top of this, car windows are frosted over and de-icing them can add a good ten minutes to our morning routine, not to mention the slippery road conditions meaning traffic is moving slower. With all this in mind, please do take care on your journeys to school in this cold snap, adding extra time to your journey for you to arrive safely.
Parent’s Evenings
These will take place on the week beginning Monday, 6th February. As usual, we ask you to use the online booking system through the school website. This will open tomorrow morning (Saturday 21st January) at 9am and is on a first come, first served basis. Please contact the school office if you have trouble logging on to the website. Please note – as Miss Roberts is new to class one only this week, and needs some time to get to know the children, we will hold Year 1 Parent’s Evening after half-term. More details about this to follow.
School Disco/Movie Night
As you know, we recently held our first KS2 Disco/KS1 Movie night since pre-Covid times. This was a fantastic night for the children, and we were so grateful to the parents who took part in organising such a memorable event. Speaking to the PSG, we noticed that the uptake was much higher than it has been in previous years. This has led us to review how we organise the event, so that we can ensure that supervision and space available is at the right level for the numbers of pupils involved.
We noted that quite a lot of children who hadn’t booked or paid came to the event, which invariably has a knock-on effect. When organising an event like this, knowing the exact numbers of pupils who will be in attendance is not only important, but vital so we can ensure there is enough food, space and supervision to run the event smoothly and safely.
With this in mind, our KS1 Disco/KS2 Movie Night is coming up on Friday, 3rd February. In order to attend, there will be a strict booking policy in place, with families needing to book and pay by the deadline in order to secure a place for their child. The event will run from 3pm – 4.30pm, with KS2 children being collected from the playground at pick-up time, and KS1 children and their siblings being collected from the school hall, coming down the front steps into the school. This should ensure the cars can move through the car park with greater ease.
Thank you in advance for your support with this. It is sure to be a wonderful event, and you will hear more details about the afternoon from our wonderful PSG soon!
A Note from the School Office
Please can we remind you that should your child be unwell, need to go to After School Club or have an appointment, it is required that you call the School Office directly to inform them, or leave a message on the school answering phone, which is monitored daily. It is tempting sometimes to pass this information on to your child’s teacher or a staff member verbally. However, this is not a reliable method as schools are busy places and it is very difficult for our staff to find time to pop to the office to relay messages once the school day has begun. We greatly appreciate your understanding and support with this.
Teacher Strikes
You will have seen in the media that the National Education Union (NEU) are planning a series of strikes over the next few weeks. The dates that could affect us are:
- Wednesday 1 February - national strike action
- Thursday 2 March – South-east and South-west England
- Wednesday 15 March /Thursday 16 March – two-day strike of all schools in England and Wales
At the moment, it is difficult to predict to what extent St George’s School will be affected, but it is possible there may be some disruption to the school day. We will also have to consider the school calendar to see what other activities may be affected on those days. When more information becomes available, particularly the numbers of teachers involved and the implications for Health and Safety in school, I will update you with more details. Please rest assured we will seek to provide the best education for our students during these strikes and to give you as much notice as possible as to what our plans are.
Church Maintenance Works
A reminder that there is some maintenance work (asbestos removal) being done at the Church in the coming weeks, which will affect access to the school from the Church. Unfortunately, the contractors will close part of the Church car park during the work for safety reasons, so those parents who normally use the Church car park to cut through to the school will not be able to do so for the next week or so.
Amenities/Swimming
Please can I remind all parents and carers that each year, we ask for a voluntary contribution of £10 per term per child for swimming, and £10 per term for each family for School Amenities.
The school has always traditionally asked parents and carers for an amenity contribution. The Amenities Fund allows the school to give children extra opportunities and experiences such as visiting artists, performers and sport companies. We feel it is crucial that the children continue to have these WOW moments and with the rising costs of maintaining and running the swimming pool, we would really appreciate your contribution to allow this to continue.
Payments for Swimming and Amenities can be paid online, details are as follows:
Bank Account Number: 02887152 Sort-Code: 30-98-45
Please quote ref S for Swimming or A for Amenities
Best wishes,
Edwina McDonnell
Upcoming Dates:
Thursday 26th January – Art Wow Day with special guest Korky Paul
Friday 3rd February – KS1 Disco / KS2 Movie Night 3pm – 4.30pm
Monday 6th February – Parents’ Evening 5.00 pm – 7.30 pm
Wednesday 8th February – Parents’ Evening 3.00 pm – 5.30 pm
Saturday 11th February – Monday 20th Feb – SCHOOL CLOSED (Half term)
