Good afternoon,

Saint Ambrose School has a long tradition of reciting the Rosary together as a way to honor the Blessed Mary in thanks for the protection that she gives the Church. Despite all the restrictions the Rosary Service took place today virtually with Father Lamb and Mr. Moran. Each class led a part of the service and it was wonderful to have time to think about the Luminous Mysteries, which help remind us to follow Mary's son.

Thank you to everyone for supporting us with all the new necessary changes to keep safe.

After half term following guidance from Worcester Chilldren First all adults dropping off and collecting children will be required to wear a face covering.

Can we also remind you that only 1 adult or family bubble enters the school reception area at a time.

Thank you for your continued support and we hope you all enjoy some family time next week.

When we return after half term we will be hosting bookable school tours for children due to start reception in Septemer 2021. 

Please can everyone share this information with family and friends and use the below link should you wish to book a tour.

You can also view the flyer by clicking on the PDF link.

Applications for High School must be completed by NO LATER than 31st October. Any application made after this date will be classed as a late application.

A late application can only be considered after all those received on time and this places those children at a disadvantage  In areas where place availability is more limited applying late can mean that your child can not be accommodated in their local schools, and in some cases, are not able to attend the same school as their siblings.

Hagley Sports are now selling St Ambrose hoodies. You can order them from their website by following the link below.

Embroidered Burgundy Hoodie £13.00 all sizes.  + £2.00 if you would like your child's name embroidered opposite the crest.

Age 5-6 = 28 inch

Age 7-8 = 30 inch

Age 9=11 =32 inch

Age 12-13 = 34 inch

Age 14-15 -36 inch

Small adult =36 inch also

Medium Adult -38/40

Large adult = 42/44

This year, we would like to support the shoebox appeal to support deprived children and vulnerable families this Christmas. Today, your child will have come home with a leaflet or a how to pack a shoebox information sheet which details of how to pack a shoebox. If you would like to support this worthy cause we ask for packed shoeboxes to be returned to school by Friday 13th November.

Reception have been busy this week learning about the Church of England. We watched a virtual tour of the church. 

"The Angels are messengers from God." said Eva

"The eagle carries a message." said Abel

"There are crosses in the Church of England church." said Olivia.

"In our Catholic school we look at the crucifix." said Analisia.

We looked at lots of photos of other Christian churches in the UK and other places around the world. We talked about their similarities and differences. We discussed artefacts that Christian churches have in common. Julia said she has only been in our church and would like to see inside other churches. 

Thank you so much to Rev Dave Bruce from Malvern for talking to Year 2 via Zoom on Wednesday afternoon during Multi-Faith Week. We really enjoyed the virtual tour of a Church of England Church. We learnt so much about what was similar and a few differences between Church of England and the Roman Catholic Faith. We love God and follow in Jesus' footsteps.

In Year 3 we have been learning all about Hinduism, and thinking about the similarities and differences between Hinduism and Christianity.  The children especially enjoyed finding out about the different Hindu festivals and learning the stories behind them.

In Year 5, we have been learning about Sikhism and particularly focusing upon the similarities between Christianity and Sikhism. We have enjoyed looking at the different symbolism and different Gurus from the Sikh faith as well as exploring how and where Sikhs worship their God. 

In Year 6, we have been learning all about Islam. We found out that there are lots of similarities between our faith and the Islamic faith. On Tuesday, we were lucky to have virtual call with a teaching assistant and a Year 7 pupil, who are both Muslims, from Hagley who shared all about their faith with us and we were able to ask them lots of questions. On Thursday, we also quizzed Umar from Year 4 about his visit to Mecca and about how many times he has to go to the mosque for worship.

I liked learning all about Islam. I learnt about their prayer mats and their place of worship: the mosque. I really enjoyed our Zoom call where I got to ask lots of questions - Ollie.

I really enjoyed learning about the prophet Muhammad who was the person who founded Islam in Saudi Arabia and was the last prophet - Anayah.

We learnt about the five pillars of Islam and that when Muslims say Muhammad's name they say 'peace be upon him' afterwards. - Hubert.

The most interesting thing I found out is that females have to cover up their beauty and aren't allowed to show their hair - Katie.

Yesterday afternoon Reception took on their life skills challenge. We learnt to ride our bikes around the track. We made sure we stayed in the lines. You can see that we concentrated really well. It was so much fun!

In Year one our life skills were using a dustpan and brush and wiping the tables. We have been sweeping up after ourselves after lunch. 

We wiped the paint off the tables after we made our Moon Zoom rockets too.

On Thursday afternoon Year 2 had a wonderful time with Mrs Tew learning a new life skill of hoovering.

Child L said, "It's to clean up the house and my hoover is called Henry".

Child R said, "Yay! I love hoovering!".

Child S said, "It sucks up all the dirt from the carpet".

Child K said, "I hoover a lot at home because I love it!"."

Year 3 spent the afternoon learning to tie their shoelaces!  We watched videos, learnt songs, and practised being resilient when things got tough!  Some children managed to tie their shoelaces by the end, some of us are still practising!

We have had a lot of fun in our Life Skills afternoon where we have learnt how to cross stitch using needles, thread and binca and began to create designs for our very own Christmas cards.

Please see below some activities for your children over the half term. Your child will also have been given the Raring 2 Go booklet that has lots of other ideas, activities for the autumn break. You can access their website by clicking on the link below.

Please find details of our holiday football courses that may be of interest to your pupils. If you are able to let parents know it would be much appreciated. Due to the current restrictions we are not delivering leaflets but will drop some in if requested. Thank you for any support you are able to give.

Nick Griffiths (Kidderminster Harriers Community Trust)

October Half Term

Kidderminster Harriers Community Scheme will be holding our holiday football courses during half term. Course run 10am-3pm and are open to children aged 5-14 years. Younger children can attend for half days if they prefer. Cost is £10 for per day or, £28 for three. The courses will feature our Star Player Award and a mini soccer tournament, everyone who competes receive a prize. Due to current restrictions all courses are outdoors so appropriate clothing required. The venues are:-

Droitwich Cricket Club WR9 7AN– Monday 26th & Tuesday 27^th 

Worcester – Bishop Perowne College -Monday 26th & Tuesday 27^th 

Bromsgrove- Catshill Middle School - Monday 26h & Tuesday 27th 

Malvern –  Dyson Perrins Academy - Tuesday 27th & Wednesday 28th 

Kinver Sports & Community Association DY7 6ER - Wednesday 28th & Thursday 29th 

Kidderminster – Baxter College - Wednesday 28th, Thursday 29th & Friday 30th

Please note new venues in Droitwich, St Peters Fields and Kinver, Legion Drive. At present we are unlikely to run the scheduled Thursday/Fridaycourse in Cleobury. 

To book a place contact the Community Scheme on 01562 863821 or email harrierscommunity@hotmail.co.uk Payment can be made in advance or on the day. Please send name, age course attending, any medical conditions and an emergency contact.

At the Museum of Carpet, we have been busy putting together a series of fun & free children's offers and activities for October half term.  Please find below some information about what the Museum of Carpet has to offer this October half term.

For one week only, the museum is giving away one free children's ticket with the purchase of every adult or concession ticket.  Alongside the free entry the museum is running a selection of spooky Halloween themed fun and games (all safe and socially distanced). Children can take part in a thrilling (free) trail around the museum, hunting spooky spiders in the galleries, or craft their own devilish decorations with the Museum's first downloadable instruction cards. You can download your (free) cards from the Museum of Carpet website and Facebook Page. If you don't have all the materials you can pick up a craft bag from our gift shop filled with all the items you will need to make your own devilish decorations.

Leave it to the weather to be miserable this half term, not the children!  With so much on offer, children will be begging every adult in the family to them to the Museum of Carpet for free this October half term. 

Please follow the link below so that you can take part in yoga adventures,breathing and relaxation with your children over half term.

Thank you to everyone that has completed and returned their menu's for hot dinners. If your child is in Year 3 - Year 6 payment of £2.30 per meal is required (unless your cild is in receipt of Free School meals). If you have not returned a form you will have to send your child with a packed lunch on the Monday that we return after half term as Class Catering will not have made provision for them.

The school nurse team will be in school on Monday 2nd November to administer the flu nasal vaccination to our children. If you have not already done so please complete and return the consent form to school as soon as possible even if you do not wish for your child to have the vaccination.

Hagley Catholic High School Academy Committee Vacancies

Hagley Catholic High School have three vacancies on our Academy Committee (Governing Body), two Foundation Representatives and one Parent Representative.

We are looking to welcome members of our schools and parish communities to support us in the vital role of school governance.

This is a purely voluntary role and typically involves 6 meetings a year (one each half term) plus being linked to a department or area of school life for support, monitoring and evaluation.

Parent Representatives are not required to be practising Catholics but Foundation Representatives would be, and more details can be found about this here http://cesew.org.uk/guidance-for-schools/governance/item/1003603-foundation-governor-recruitment.

We are keen to welcome members of the community who might have experience in any of the following areas; financial and business management, legal services and HR.

Interested parties can contact Stella Batson (Clerk to the Academy Committee) on clerk@hagleyrc.worcs.sch.uk for information and applications, or Mr James Hodgson (Principal) on jhodgson@hagleyrc.worcs.sch.uk for an informal conversation about the vacancies and the role.

 

Current members of our committee are:

Mrs E Yates (Chair) - St Ambrose Parish

Mr C Guy (Vice Chair) - Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Old Hill

Mr G Taylor Smith - Our Lady and All Saints Parish

Mr T Tolkien - Our Lady and All Saints Parish

Mrs S Laskey - St Ambrose Parish

Mr M Hill (Parent representative) - St  Wulstan and St Thomas of Canterbury Parish

Mrs S Palmer (Staff Representative)

Mrs C Kirk (Staff representative)

The first preparation class for children will be Wednesday 4th November 3.10-4pm. Please note that this is a change of start date from the one detailed on the letter sent out previously. The meeting for parents will be on Wednesday 4th November at 6.30pm at Saint Ambrose Church. The meeting will be led by Father and will include prayers and a talk from Father about how you can prepare your son or daughter. The meeting will be organised following Government guidelines and all adults will be required to wear a face covering. Please note this year there will only be one meeting for parents due to the pandemic.

On Monday 2nd November we will celebrate the hardwork and achievements of our pupils in a virtual celebration assembly. The following children will receive a certificate and bring a photograph home on Monday.

As we are unable to hold face to face meetings between teacher and parents we have set up year group email addresses for you to communicate with staff. Please note that emails received after 6pm will be answered the next working day and none over the weekend.

General enquiries: office@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk

Reception:Reception@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk

Year 1: year1@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk

Year 2:year2@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk

Year 3:year3@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk

Year 4:year4@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk

Year 5:year5@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk

Year 6:year6@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk

Applications for Reception Class 2021 have now opened and must be completed online by 15 January 2021. We welcome applications from all families of all or no faith. If you know of any families who are presently applying for a school place please encourage them to contact school. Again, if you have any queries regarding applying please do not hesitate to speak to us.

Is your child interested in learning to play an instrument?

Learning to play a musical instrument can help build confidence and
self-esteem, develop creativity, and improve literacy and numeracy.
It can also be lots of fun!

Severn Arts teaches in over 200 schools across Worcestershire. If you would like to find out more about instrumental lessons in school with Severn Arts please contact the school office or click on the link below.

Worcestershire county council are running a variety of Family Learning Courses. Courses are FREE if individuals earn less than £17,000 per year, are unemplyed or on benefits. To view what courses are on offer and to book a place please click on the link below.

Due to the parish hall still being closed, Teapot Time will take place at school. If you would like to attend, the next session will be on Tuesday 3rd November at 9am. 

Father Lamb will be saying a virtual Mass for the whole school from Church on Wednesday 4th November to celebrate the Feast of Charles Borremeo. 

Thank you to everyone for not using the school car park to drop off and pick up children, this has really enabled us to keep everyone safe. Only parents who have a car park pass will be permitted to use the school car park when it is safe to do so.

Please remember that we have children in school who suffer from a severe allergy to all nuts and products containing nuts. Children with this condition may have a serious reaction, which could prove fatal if they come into contact with nuts. Consequently, I would ask that no nuts or related products (e.g. Kinder Bueno, Nutella spreads, peanut butter etc.) are brought into school for your child’s break or packed lunch. Your agreement with this and compliance could prevent a life threatening situation from developing. I am sure you will appreciate the reasons for making this request and trust that you will give it your full co-operation.

Kind regards,

Mrs Brocklesby.