It always comes as a surprise when half-term arrives. Even though it has been a 7 week one, it has gone really quickly - we really have packed lots in! This half term has been all about introducing our new STAR approach to create consistency across the school. As a Catholic School, we want our children to come face to face with God in whoever they meet; and as STARs, that is something that we strive to do on a daily basis. We can only do this if we are committed to living the Gospel values and our Jesuit virtues. When we return, our new virtues will be to be intentional and prophetic. These are perfect as we approach Advent and the arrival of Jesus as a baby. To understand what it means to be intentional, we will understand the parable of The Good Samaritan and the intent he showed to the man who needed his help; even when others turned their back. This Advent we will be led by our Mini Vinnie team who will help us to become The Good Samaritans our community needs. The first thing that we will be looking at when we return is remembrance. Last year our chapel was beautifully adorned with poppies made by our community and they are still there today. On Monday 11th November, I will be taking some pupils to the cenotaph to take part in remembrance day alongside our community.
You can see from the photos below that our new canopy area has been built outside ready for our Forest School journey to start. Miss Lavelle and Mrs Tierney are super excited. I know there is also a mud kitchen being built this half term. This process is going to take some time, but we are excited with what it could be.
Our playground zones have been a really big hit amongst our children - for many different reasons. The whole approach that we are taking is ensuring that the children maximise their time outside and experiences quality play. By combining different year groups, the children are supporting each other and helping each other to problem-solve - we are no longer dealing with the playground disputes that we had before. To really embrace the approach that we are taking, more zones need to be added. After half term, there will be some tables on the playground that the children can use for cars, duplo, construction and small world. We want to enhance the children’s creativity and to provide them with the natural tools to do this. I apologise that some of the children’s uniform may be getting a little muddy - we do remind them to wear coats, but we also want to become a mud aware school and not see this as a barrier to their learning. We will continue to problem-solve this to maximise the learning our playtimes can bring. Wellies can be brought in for pegs and old coats that they wear for outside. Maybe even an outdoor top that they don’t mind getting dirty!
Looking at Learning
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time today to speak to class teachers about their child’s progress. These conversations are so important and the teachers want to share all of the wonderful things with you. Now that you have had these chats, you need to come into school and sit with your child. They want to share their work with you and to talk about their learning. The dates and times for these are below:
7th November: Year 2 Book Look @ 9am
7th November: Year 3 Book Look @2.15pm
8th Novmber: Year 5 Book Look @ 9am
13th November: Year 6 Book Look @ 2.15pm
14th November: Year 1 Book Look @ 9am
14th November: Year 4 Book Look @ 2.15pm
For our children in Reception, there will be an opportunity to come and stay and play with your child. Miss Drummond will contact you directly about these times.
Fundraising in School
Thank you so much to those parents who have downloaded the Easy Fundraising App, in one week there has been £10 worth of donations to the school from various companies. If you haven’t downloaded it or allocated to our school, please do. This is of no cost to you - just from the businesses that you online shop with. They pay a % of your shop to school via a donation - it is really easy to do! In the run up to Christmas, now is the time to do it!
There a lots of events after half-term for the children to be involved in. On Friday 15th November, we will have our annual PJ Day for our local children in need - Brian House. In the run up to Christmas, we will also be bringing back the old Our Lady raffle as well as the Christmas Bake Off! We will be on the hunt for amazing donated prizes; so please get thinking and collecting! Christmas Bake Off will take place on Friday 13th December. The day will be all things cake, cake sales and Christmas jumpers!
Office News
As I sit in my office this morning, the site outside has been cleared for the new kitchen extension to start. As you can see from the photo, the ground has been marked up ready for the work to start on Monday.
Due to the work taking place, the menu has had to be adapted for the time being. There are many factors that we need to consider, including reducing the cooking for our kitchen team. You can see from the new menu below that we are having to put in two packed lunch days for the children. The menu below will be the menu in school whilst Jacqui is still in our kitchen, once she has to relocate to use the kitchen in St Thomas’, we will change the menu further. Thank you so much for your understanding. We cannot wait for our new kitchen and the ability to offer a wider choice of meals!
Don’t forget to book your child a place on the extra-curricular programme for Autumn 2. There is a Year 5 & 6 indoor athletics competition coming up, so the more practise that we have the better. We also need more numbers for our school choir in preparation for the Christmas festivities. Each Christmas, we visit Stella Matutina Care Home to sing to the residents - we need a large choir for that. Please visit the sports page or news around the school to book.
We have added more places to some of our busier after school club sessions. If you do require wrap around care, please contact Mrs Nel in the office and she will be able to assist.
Our Half-Termly Attendance
Above you will find the half-termly attendance. The winning class, who will receive 30 minutes additional break time is - Year 4; followed by Year 2 with 20 minutes extra and Year 1 with 10 minutes extra!
I hope that you have a lovely half-term holiday with your families. School opens again on Monday 28th October at 8.45am.
God bless
Mrs Gregan