Good afternoon,

In our whole school virtual assembly we celebrated the Feast of Christ the King and explored how God guides us. Today I have included the responses from Year 3-see below.

We would like to share some work produced by Ollie in Year 6. Miss Holtom is extremely proud and impressed with the progress he has made and the quality of his work. Well done, Ollie.

This week, Year 6 have been working hard to carefully chose their Confirmation saint names and they have thought about how they will endeavour to be like these saints in their lives.

Saint John Paul II – Erin

I can help encourage those who feel God has let them down in some way so that I can bring back their belief and comfort them through their journey with God when needed. I pledge to let others know their worth and give them my best possible love to give just like Saint John Paul II

Saint Augustine – Harry

I can be like him by trying to help people and I will smile at the poor if I cannot spare some change. Also, if people have done bad things I can tell them to be truly sorry and God will always forgive them.

Saint Fina – Poppy

Dear Saint Fina,

Please can I ask for you to be my Confirmation saint; please guide me through my life to make the best decisions I can.

Amen

Saint Patrick – Jensen

I will be like Saint Patrick by being kind to others and will not kill animals. I will also tell people about Jesus.

Saint Beatrice – Isla P

I will be like Saint Beatrice by not being jealous and I will help people with their work. I won’t get angry because she just got on with things if she liked it or not.

Saint Katherine of Drexel

I can try to be like Saint Katherine by looking out for others and making sure that I dedicate my prayers to others.

Saint Francis of Assisi – Archie

I will be like Saint Francis by helping the poor and animals in need.

Today the children came to school wearing their pyjama's/own clothes in order to raise money for a local 25 year old woman from Kidderminster who was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer. Thank you so much for helping to raise money to support Megan with her treatment, I am very proud of the way we have all come together to organise this event.

Should you wish to donate further you can click on the link below.

This week, we took part in Red Wednesday, an initiative of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Catholic charity dedicated to the support of suffering and persecuted Christians. We had some children come to school wearing red socks, some a red t-shirt and even some a red tie! It was lovely to see everyone joining together to support the persecuted who are unable to speak freely, and who look to us - their brothers and sisters in Christ - to speak on their behalf. Well done, everyone.

On Monday 30th 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.

E-Safety – TikTok Update
Children under the age of 13 should not be using TikTok but we are aware that some of our children are accessing this popular platform. We therefore feel it is appropriate to inform you that TikTok have now added additional parental controls to their app. Some of the new features include the ability for parents to change their child’s settings remotely to block them from carrying out searches; block inappropriate content and prevent strangers from seeing their posts. Although children can override these limitations, parents will be notified and have the ability to reinforce parental controls if they set up the ‘Family Pairing’ facility. These updated parental controls can be accessed in the settings menu. Parents should choose ‘Family Pairing’ and follow the onscreen instructions. We’ve also include a link below from Netaware on TikTok. Further information on ‘Family Pairing’ can be found under the ‘Top Tips for Keeping Safe’ section on this link. Netaware is a useful website for parents as it provides really helpful information and guidance regarding social media and gaming platforms. The link below will take you to their website.

Harvest Food Bank Donations

Our Harvest food donations where greatly received by our local food bank today. Thank you for supporting this worthy cause; it is wonderful that we are able to support our community at this time of year.

If your child would like to send Christmas cards to their class friends they can bring them in from Monday 30th November.

This year we will be celebrating Christmas Jumper Day on Wednesday 3rd December. This year are we asking the children to wear their normal uniform or P.E. uniform with their Christmas jumper not school jumper. On Wednesday, we will also be filming our 'Silent Night' school production which we will share with families and friends of Saint Ambrose on 15th December.

Can we remind you that if you wish to order a Christmas dinner for your child the form needs to be returned by Wednesday 2nd December. Those is receipt of Free School meals, in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 do not need to make payment otherwise there is a cost of £2.30.

We know many of Santa’s Grottos will be closed this year, but we have exciting news! We can confirm Santa will be visiting Saint Ambrose during week commencing 14th December! Santa’s elves have asked school to ensure there is a grotto for Santa where he can meet children, with social distancing measures in place of course - they don’t want Santa to have to isolate on Christmas Eve! TAPP are on the case and they plan to convert the Parent Shelter into Santa’s Grotto. Over the next few weeks your child will have the opportunity to write a special letter to Santa which they will be able to give to Santa when they meet him in school.

Thank you to everyone for all your support this week ensuring we arrive at our collection times ensuring we do not have any queues.

Please can I remind you of the collection times below and ask that only one adult collects, children are collected at their allocated time or at their siblings latest collection time. If you are collecting from more than one class at the same time, please collect your youngest child first-THANK YOU.

Thank you, our children have all looked so smart this week. If you are struggling to get hold of any uniform at the moment due to the National Lockdown please contact the school office.

The Saint Ambrose Lockdown Reading Challenge has started to promote our love of reading. Everyone has been challenged, over the next few weeks, to read in as many different ways as they can. They have been given a record sheet where the number of minutes they have spent reading is to be logged. The more minutes they spend over the three weeks, the greater their chance of winning a prize! We hope all our children enjoy reading lots of different things and can't wait to hear who the winners are in each class.

You can view the reading record by clicking on the following link:

We are 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.

Currently the tours are postponed until further government guidance regarding national lockdown. However as it stands you will be able to resume booking from 3rd December.

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

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

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

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

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

In the event of a school closure any lessons will be delivered via Microsoft Teams. We need to ensure that you have successfully downloaded and accessed the app. Please see the flyer below and contact our IT department should you experience any difficulties or you require your login details.

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.

Starting well is an NHS backed support service for families, parents, children and young people across Worcestershire to lead happy, healthy and fulfilled lives. Please click on the PDF link below for more information on the services and support that they provide.

Please see the PDF document regarding short courses/workshops for Nov – Dec 2020 to support families during this latest lockdown for the last part of half term this year. All our Family Learning courses are free for every parent or carer at the moment.

You can also click on the course links below to enrol.

Lockdown Elevenses for any parents/carers feeling lonely or isolated https://rebrand.ly/LockdownElevenses

Christmas Craft Workshop for Parents and Children https://rebrand.ly/ChristmasCraft

New Year Calendar Making Workshop for Parents and Children https://rebrand.ly/CalendarMaking

Fabulous Family Food Workshop for Parents https://rebrand.ly/FabulousFood

Please click on the link below to enjoy a 1 month free kids pass.

Due to the new national restrictions in place, Teapot time will be cancelled until these restrictions are lifted. We will notify you in due course of the next meeting.

Father Lamb will be saying a virtual Mass for Y3 and Y2 from Church on Wednesday 2nd December at 9.15 am. Please join us for Mass by accessing the live stream on the Parish website http://www.stambrosekidderminster.org.uk/

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.