Friday 30th September 2022

Please take a look at the exciting things that your child(ren) will be learning about this half term.

The first Congratulations Assembly will be on Monday 10th October for Reception to Year 5 children. Year 6 are visiting Hagley High School so their first assembly will be on Monday 17th October. During the assembly, we celebrate the achievements of two children from every class. If your son or daughter is chosen you will receive a push notification or email on the Thursday before inviting you to the assembly. Remember to keep it a surprise from your son or daughter.

On Tuesday 11th October, Mrs Fish and Miss Downs will be in the parents shelter at the start and end of the day. They will be available to help parents set up school life, parent pay and answer any queries.

This morning, our Year 5 Mini Vinnies were busy serving teas, coffees and cake in the parish centre supporting the UCM who organised a Coffee Morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. They really enjoyed the washing up part! They were a credit to our school and thoroughly enjoyed their first mission to follow in their Class Saint's footsteps - Saint Vincent De Paul who served others so well. Well done, Year 5!

The Year 2 pupils did an excellent job of leading a Whole School Collective Worship Assembly to introduce Little Way Week on Monday. Little Way Week is inspired by St Thérèse of Lisieux (the Year 2 class saint). She did ordinary things in an extraordinary way by showing love and kindness to others. KS1 and KS2 pupils were then challenged to think of 5 acts of kindness they could do this week. It has been wonderful to see so many examples around school.

KS1 and KS2 had fun this week taking part in the NFU live lessons, which linked to our Science and Catholic Social Teaching (Caring for God's gifts) curriculum.

NFU Student & Young Farmer Ambassador Hannah Buisman explained to the Key Stage 1 children what happens when crops are harvested.

Carrots were on the menu for Key Stage 2, with a lesson that talked the students through how farmers are using climate change fighting technology and science to grow, process and pack them.

Why not ask your son or daughter all about what they learnt?

We have had a number of complaints from residents who live on Leswell Street regarding parents using their allocated parking spaces and blocking their driveways. Please can we ask that you do no block anyone's access to or from their property or use their property to park your car. Thank you for your continued support.

We will be holding our ‘Open Day’ on Friday 21st October from 9.30-11.00am and 1.15-2.45pm. Please spread the word to parents of children who will start school in September 2023. Parents and children will have the opportunity to have a guided tour seeing the school in action , chat to staff and look around the school. Please feel free to come along and take advantage of this opportunity and encourage any friends or neighbours with school age children to come along too. As I have said before there can be a misconception that only Catholic children can apply to our school. We welcome applications from all families of all or no faith. If you know of any families who are presently preparing to apply for a school place please encourage them to attend the Open morning or contact me to arrange a visit and tour of the school. Applications for Reception Class 2023 must be completed online by 15 January 2023.

It was a pleasure to welcome Mr J Hodgson , Principal of Hagley Catholic High School, into school today. Mr Hodgson came to speak to our Year 5 and Year 6 children as they look forward now to preparing for High school. The children were extremely impressive in their attentiveness and in the questions they asked.

Hagley Catholic High School will be holding their annual Open Morning on Saturday 8 October from 9.00am to 12.00pm. If you have a child in Key Stage 2, it is never too early to start thinking about High Schools. The vast majority of our children transfer to Hagley at the end of Year 6, so do take this opportunity to take a look at the school. Our Year 6 children have now received their High School transfer forms.  If you have any queries regarding transfer please do not hesitate to speak to us. Please see the Hagley Open Day flyer below

We would like to invite the parents/carers of our year 2 children to attend a SATS information workshop on Tuesday 15^th November.  You are invited to come into school at 9am – 10.30am. As you will be aware, your child will be sitting their SATs tests in the summer term 2023 and therefore, this will be a wonderful opportunity for you to take part in activities with your child, get more information about the tests and for you to ask any questions, raise any concerns and allow us to give you advice on how you can help support your child in the preparation for the tests.

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.

On Thursday 6th October at 2.45pm in the school playground some of our Y6 and Y5 pupils, alongside Father Lamb, will be leading an animal blessing. Please see the letter below inviting you and your pet/pets to the blessing.

On Wednesday 28th September it was wonderful  to welcome  reception parents to a phonics workshop led by Miss Brewer. It was great to see so many parents and have the opportunity to share ways you can support your son or daughter at home.

Thank you to everyone who sent in ingredients to make bread rolls. The bread rolls will now be made week beg 10th October ready for our school Harvest celebration.

All families are invited to attend Mass at Saint Ambrose Church on Sunday 2nd October at 11am and then join parishioners in the Parish Centre to enjoy delicious soup, rolls and cakes. There will then be a cake sale afterwards with all proceed going to the Foodbank. Thank you to everyone for sending in cakes for the Parish Harvest Celebration.

Please click on the link PDF link below for more information on adult learning provided by Worcestershire Council.

SPORTING OPPORTUNITY

Please see the flyer below for an exciting opportunity for you child to take part in a fantastic sport. 

On Tuesday 18th October at 7pm, Father Lamb would like to invite you to a guided tour of the Church to introduce or re-introduce you to the Catholic Faith.

 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 see the confirmed term dates below for 2022/23. 

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.

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

Kind Regards,

Mrs Brocklesby