There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.’

At St Ambrose we want all our children to become life long readers. Next week you will receive a letter explaining how we can achieve this.  It is really important that our children see the value of reading at home and at school so from February 1st all children who read 5X a week will be entered into a weekly raffle with the chance of winning a £5 voucher.

We are hoping from March to start holding different events in our library to celebrate reading at St Ambrose. If you know an author or an illustrator we could contact or have an idea to promote reading at Saint Ambrose please contact ebrocklesby@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk

We enjoyed listening to Miss Crumpler's assembly all about how we can take care of our planet. We turned off all our lights! 

We learned all about the famous artist Wassily Kandinsky. We had the opportunity to create our own mini world using the colours that reminded us of God’s creation.

Amelia has felt motivated to start litter picking again during lunchtimes and has asked if we can have more time dedicated to using no electricity in the day. 

Ffion - " We saved electricity by turning off the lights and every switch in the classroom for an hour so we weren't being wasteful-it was really fun." 

Last week I attended a Parish Meeting to discuss how we can engage further in the life of the Parish. There are many opportunities for our children including reading at Parish Masses or Altar Serving (boys years 4-6). If your son or daughter is interested email ebrocklesby@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk  Next week on our newsletter there will be a link to a survey to gain your views on how our school community can embrace Parish life further. Remember to read the weekly Parish Newsletter by clicking the link below.

Again, I would like to thank everyone for supporting us as we experience COVID cases across the school. Thank you to everyone for protecting each other by following the guidance below.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has advised that it is important for anyone who might have been exposed to COVID-19 to complete daily testing so we can prevent its spread.  

If your child does not have symptoms they can attend school as normal but if your child is a close contact please follow the steps below.

1. Complete LFD testing with your child for 7 consecutive days.
2. If your child tests positive they must then isolate and book a PCR test whilst they await the result.

On Wednesday, everyone came to school wearing an item of clothing that was red to mark the feast day of our red house team's patron saint. We also spent time exploring Worcester Cathedral, where St Wulstan spent his time as Bishop of Worcester, and created some lovely pieces of art work which is going to be collated into a whole school art book!

YEAR 2

Year 2 had a great time celebrating Saint Wulstan's Feast day. First, we found out about his life. Then we looked Worcester Cathedral online. Finally, we drew pictures of the church and spent some time with God reflecting and listening to worship music. 

Child A said, “Saint Wulstan stopped eating meat and he is the patron saint of vegetarians”

Child J, “He helped slaves."

Child A, “He was the Bishop of Worcester”

On Monday morning, we will be celebrating children from each class who have followed our Catholic Mission: 'we do our best by following Jesus' in our Celebration assembly. The children receiving a certificate are:

This term, Father Lamb has kindly offered to celebrate Mass in school with our pupils. These will be special Masses where he will go through each part of the Mass with the children and answer any questions they have about it. This will enable all pupils to show the virtues of being curious and active and will be a wonderful opportunity for them. Unfortunately due to current COVID guidance parents/carers will not be able to attend Mass in school.

Please see the assembly dates below for this year:

Here are the January – March 2022 New Family Learning Courses that are being delivered by Worcestershire County Council. The courses start at the end of January so please book a place quickly as they do fill up.

Parents and carers living in Worcestershire can attend any course below for FREE with the following eligibility:

• FREE if they are unemployed and on benefits or they earn less than £17,000 per year.
• FREE if their child receives a Free School Meal or is known to their school SENCo.
• FREE if any of these courses would improve their health and wellbeing.  

All Family Learning courses can be found at www.worcestershire.gov.uk/courses and you will need to book your places online ASAP before the end of January in order to enrol with time to start each course.

Family Learning January 2022 Courses:

Cook with your Family for Parents and Children Sundays 3.30pm online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/CookWithFamily

Maths in Early Years for Parents Wednesdays 1pm online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/MagnificentMaths

Phonics in the Early Years for Parents Wednesdays 10am online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/PhonicsEarlyYears

SEND – Managing Mindfulness Tuesdays 7pm online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/ManagingMindfulnessSEND

SEND – Strategies for Positive Behaviour Tuesdays 6pm in Fairfield Centre, Warndon Worcester

https://rebrand.ly/SEND-PositiveBehaviour

Maths in Key Stage 2 & 3 for Parents Mondays 7pm online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/MathsSecondarySchool-FL

English in Key Stage 2 & 3 for Parents Tuesdays 7pm online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/EnglishKeyStage2and3

Family Wellness Course for parents and carers Mondays 10am online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/FamilyWellness

Communicating with Deaf or Hearing-Impaired People Mondays 7pm online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/CommunicatingWithDeaforHearingImpaired

Art for your Child – Ideas for Parents Thursdays 7pm online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/ArtForYourChild

Art for Parents and Carers Thursdays 1pm online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/ArtforParentsandCarers

Art in Key Stage 1 and 2 for Parents Thursdays 11am online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/ArtKs1and2forParents

SEND – Understanding Dyslexia Mondays 7pm online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/UnderstandingDyslexia

English & Maths in Key Stage 1 for Parents Wednesdays 1pm online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/FL-EnglishandMathsKeyStage1

Cooking Creatively Tuesdays 10am online via Teams

https://rebrand.ly/CookingCreatively 

Please Book your place online at www.worcestershire.gov.uk/courses or ring 01905-728537 for support in booking on.

All courses are FREE if:

You earn Less than £17,000 per year

You are unemployed and on benefits

Your child is known to the school SENCo

Your child receives Free School Meals

Your Health and Wellbeing would be improved by taking a course

Please ensure that your child comes to school in their correct P.E. kit. The P.E. uniform is as follows:

• Black shorts, black leggings, black track suit bottoms (unbranded if possible)
• Maroon round neck T-shirt with embroidered badge
• P.E pumps or black trainer

PLEASE NOTE: P.E. HOODIES CAN ONLY BE WORN ON P.E. DAYS.

Father Lamb extends a warm welcome to all families to continue to attend Mass. Please click on the link below which will take you to the Parish website where you can view newsletters and get information on Mass times.

Please follow the link below to access this week's Wednesday Word.

Kind Regards,

Mrs Brocklesby