Please come along to the coat bank on Tuesday 6th December from 9 am in the Parish Centre.

Friday 2nd December 2022

Children can wear their Christmas jumper on Wednesday and Friday next week!

Next Wednesday on Saint Ambrose Day, the school community will celebrate Mass and in the evening our Year 6 children will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. The children, with the guidance of their teachers and parents, have been preparing for their sacrament over the past few months, examining the significance of making their Confirmation and what it will mean to them both spiritually and personally. We pray that they shall have an enriched and special day!

There will be a rehearsal for children receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation after school on Tuesday 6th December in church until 4pm. We will walk back to school and children can be collected from there. 

On Wednesday to celebrate Saint Ambrose Day we will also be having our Christmas Dinner. Children can wear a ‘Christmas Jumper’, we don’t wish anyone to go to the expense of buying a special jumper and if your child doesn’t already have one any jumper can be customized with a bit of imagination and a bit of tinsel. The children will still need to wear their school skirts or trousers with the jumper just replacing their school jumper.

Please see the flyer below for a Christmas Storytime evening at school.

Thank you for the gifts we have already received, our Minnie Vinnies are doing a wonderful job of co-ordinating the Advent collection.

Saint Ambrose School have decorated a Christmas tree at Milton Hall Baptist Church on Lorne Street. All children have had the opportunity to make a bee themed decoration to celebrate Saint Ambrose. Next week every class will visit Milton Hall Baptist Church and see the Christmas trees decorated by local groups. Key Stage Two classes will visit on Monday and Key Stage 1 and Reception will visit on Wednesday. I would particularly like to thank Mrs Strong and Mrs Rutter who have invited us to take part. 

The Y6 children and staff have had a fantastic time on a residential trip to The Pioneer Centre near Cleobury Mortimer. The children have behaved fabulously, and rose to the occasion on the activities, challenging themselves, and worked together superbly. We are very proud of them all.

We will add photos of the children next week.

An additional bank holiday in honour of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III will take place on Monday 8th May 2023. As this date had previously been announced as the first day of the 2023 key stage 2 (KS2) test week in England, a change to the KS2 test schedule next year will be necessary.

Ministers have considered the situation carefully and have decided that KS2 tests will take place in the same week with tests following the usual order but each taking place one day later than originally planned. As such, the new schedule will be:

• Tuesday 9 May: English grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) papers 1 (questions) and 2 (spelling)
• Wednesday 10 May: English reading paper
• Thursday 11 May: mathematics papers 1 (arithmetic) and 2 (reasoning)
• Friday 12 May: mathematics paper 3 (reasoning)

There will be no changes to arrangements for our other assessments, including KS2 teacher assessments, key stage 1 tests and teacher assessments, the phonics screening check and the multiplication tables check.

On Monday each class will have the opportunity to plan their Christmas party and bid for £10 from the TAPP group.

Classes will plan their parties and we will share the details with you next week. Parties will be on Thursday 15th December in the afternoon and children can come to school wearing their party clothes.

Ten Ten Resources is producing a special prayer resource for schools and families to use throughout Advent in preparation for the coming of Jesus at Christmas.

We would like to encourage your family to join the whole school community on this journey. We will be following the prayer each day in school, and we would like to encourage you to also open a Bible story on the Jesse Tree calendar at home each morning/evening, at weekends and during the school holidays.

The Jesse Tree: From Creation to Christmas is a daily prayer resource, starting on Monday 28 November, the first week of Advent, and running all the way through to Christmas Day.  A Jesse Tree is a bit like an Advent calendar, but using a daily video Bible story about someone in Jesus’ family tree to help us prepare spiritually as we move towards Christmas.

We would like to encourage your family to join the whole school community on this journey. We will be following the prayer each day in school, and we would like to encourage you to also open a Bible story on the Jesse Tree calendar at home each morning/evening, at weekends and during the school holidays.

To access the resource, please visit the Ten Ten Resources’ Collective Worship Parent Portal:

Website: tentenresources.co.uk/parent-portal

Username: st-ambrose-dy10

Password:  custard-111 

Regular attendance at school means that your child will make the most of their education and improve their chances later on in life. At St Ambrose, good attendance is of high importance and we strive to have at least 96% attendance. Please help us with this target. If you need any support, then school is here to help so that your child can get the very best out of the education we provide. 

Letters for Mr Turners club will go out next week.

Mrs Fish and Miss Downs will be running a craft club for Reception and Year 1 and letters for this will also go out next week.

Below are the times and dates for the Christmas productions. The KS2 productions will be held in Church and KS1 productions will be held in school. Tickets for the KS1 performances have been sent home today, please contact the school office if you have any questions regarding tickets.

The Christmas Bazaar this year will be on Sunday at 12 o'clock after Mass in the Parish Centre. It will be wonderful to see as many families as possible especially as the choir will be singing carols around the Christmas tree at 1.30pm 

Father Lamb would like to extend a big thank you to all of the families who have brought in donations for the Bazaar.

If you are experiencing any problems with School Life then please come to the school office to speak with Mrs Fish or Miss Downs. They can also help you with setting up for Parent Pay and School Food United accounts.

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

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

Children are to come to school wearing their P.E. kit on the day(s) listed above. Thank you.

This half term it has been lovely to meet representatives form the Parish UCM group.

It is a National Organisation of Women, open to all women. The Union of Catholic Mothers organises some fantastic activities in the Parish Hall and would welcome any visitors or new members. They run a craft club on the 1st and 2nd Tuesday of every month from 2-4pm. Everyone is welcome and you can pop in before you collect or after collection.

The UCM group over the next few weeks will be dropping flyers into school about their activities and will be available in the playground (dates to be confirmed) to answer any questions and tell us about future events.

 Would you like to join the Parish flower  group?

Any help you can give will be much appreciated. Whether you already have flower arranging experience or are just a beginner. They are very short and helpers and any assistance would be very welcome.  Training and guidance will be given to any beginners. Please phone or text Elaine Yates on 07951 535843 if you are interested. Many thanks.

Please read the following tips to share with your son or daughter about staying safe online:

• Never give out personal information. This includes online people you know as well. Keep them private!
• Never send pictures of yourself because once it’s online, it’s there forever, and it could get into the wrong hands.
• Don’t make friends with people you don’t know. People are not always who they say they are.
• Tell your parents/carers what you’re doing online so they can act fast if there are any issues and can vet whether the website is safe for use
• Leave the website and tell a trusted adult immediately if you see something that concerns you or makes you feel unsafe
• Never show your real name, age or where you live in your username
• Use strong passwords which have a mix of numbers, letters and symbols
• Do not share passwords with others
• Don’t open an attachment unless you’re 100% sure it’s safe
• Don’t let strangers into your video calls. Blur your background so you don’t give away any information about where you are.
• Be careful who you webcam with
• Don’t meet up with someone you’ve only met online
• Be nice online
• Think before your post! This applies to when you send or forward content.

Please see the confirmed term dates below for 2022/23. 

Kind Regards,

Mrs Brocklesby