Newsletter 29 April 2022

Acting Headteacher: Mrs Edwina McDonnell

                                                                                                                                  29 April 2022

Dear Parents and Carers,

I am very pleased to be writing my first newsletter as Acting Headteacher of this fantastic school. I have been a teacher here for 15 years and I have loved every minute of it. It has been a busy and enjoyable start to the term. I have been to visit each class, where I found the children and staff working very hard indeed.

This Week in School

We are pleased that we have been able to return to whole-school assemblies this week. The Chaplains led a wonderful assembly about St George on Monday, and the children and staff attended St George’s Mass in Church on Tuesday. The children were well behaved, and given that our youngest children have little or no experience with whole-school church visits, they did very well. We will be working on children’s responses to prayers and knowing confidently when to stand, kneel or sit during the Mass, as the children found this difficult. Any support you can give with this at home is appreciated.

We held our St George’s Races on Friday afternoon, and this was a great success, led by Mr Lake. Dragons be warned, you are not welcome at St. George’s! After all their hard work slaying dragons, the children had certainly earned their ice-lolly treat.

We finished the week on a high with our Golden Book Assembly, and we celebrated the hard work and enthusiasm of the children. The staff and children have worked so hard this week, we have decided they can have Monday off! Please enjoy the bank holiday weekend, and hopefully some good weather, with your families.

SATS

If your child is in Year 2 or Year 6, you may be aware that May is the month of the KS1 and KS2 SATs tests. Year 6 SATs will take place on the week beginning 9th May, and Year 2 SATs will be ongoing throughout the month of May. The children here at St George’s are very well-rounded and staff and parents alike know that there is more to our pupils than the score they receive on a test. They are dancers, singers, swimmers, historians, geographers, artists, poets, sporting enthusiasts, musicians, and so much more. While the children and teachers have been working hard in getting ready for these SATs papers, we know our pupils will be measured in life on much more important things, such as the kindness and care they have shown for others. I was delighted that on a visit to Year 6 today, these very qualities were being celebrated by the teacher.

 Lost Uniform

Please can I ask parents and carers to ensure all uniform items are labelled and to regularly check uniform that does comes home to ensure it belongs to their child. Mistakes will happen and if things are labelled, they can be returned quickly to the rightful owners.

Sports Days

Mr Chidgey is busy organising KS1 and KS2 sports day for June. Parents will be invited to watch these events and cheer the children on. We will inform you of the dates for these in the next newsletter.

Communication

• Please check your emails regularly as it will help you to keep up to date with important information from the school. Do contact the school office if you are not receiving emails form the school, as we will need to update your details.
• Please keep in touch if there are ever any issues that you feel need addressing or that you would like support with. We would like to help in any way we can.
• Teachers will be sending out electronic termly letters. There will be lots of useful information in these letters about the term ahead, so keep an eye out for them in your inbox in the coming days.
• Please note the changes to our staff email addresses this term. For the time being, emails sent to the old email addresses are still being forwarded and you will be notified with a ‘change of address’ response if you use these. Teachers will include their new email address in their upcoming termly letter.
• If you find it simpler, the school email address is at the top of this letter and our office staff will forward any relevant emails to class teachers.

Best wishes,

Edwina McDonnell

Upcoming Dates:

• Wed 4^th May: KS2 Aquathon –please send your child to school in PE kit, with Swimming kit
• Thurs 5^th May: KS1 Aquathon –please send your child to school in PE kit, with Swimming kit
• Thurs 5^th May: Please be aware the Catholic Centre is being used as a Polling Station
• Week beginning 9^th May: KS2 SATs week.
• Wed 11^th May: KS1 and KS2 Marion Processions
• Thurs 26^th May: Ascension Day Mass in Church, 9.30 am.
• Fri 27^th May: Last day in school this half-term
• Mon 6^th June: INSET day – School CLOSED
• Tues 7^th June: School OPEN