Good Afternoon,

Firstly we would like to thank you all for the hard work you put into supporting your child to complete their Home Learning. All staff have tried hard to speak to you all this week to check you are all o.k. and have all the resources you need. If staff were unable to speak to you, they will call you next week. Today I just want to let you all know that we are here for you and that we fully understand that it can be a real challenge for parents trying to help children to complete their school work whilst juggling other reponsibilities. We are also very aware that we are living through a difficult time, which may be adding an additional level of stress and worry to normal family life.

With this in mind, we would like to say please select from your weekly Home Learning Plan what is manageable, staff will continue to make contact every few weeks and prepare print outs of resources and offer advice as and when you need it.

Today we must thank Mrs Stewart for your dedication to Saint Ambrose School as I know many children have benefited from Mrs Stewart's wisdom, influence and support over the years and have her to thank for their achievements and successes in their lives. Mrs Stewart is a much loved member of our community and as soon as we can, we will invite her to a Mass followed by a get together to officially thank her. Please click on the link to watch the wondeful video from us all thanking Mrs Stewart for her hard work.

Above are a few messages that have been sent in for Mrs Stewart. To view a video of all of the collated messages please click on the link below or go to our Twitter and Facebook pages.

99-year-old British war veteran, Captain Tom Moore, has completed 100 laps of his 25m back garden in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire! He has raised over £28 million for Britain's National Health Service (NHS) and has received donations to his fundraising challenge from all around the world! Captain Tom began raising funds to thank NHS staff who helped him with treatment for cancer and a broken hip, he originally aimed to raise just £1000 but quickly passed his target!

How can one person make a big difference?

Captain Tom didn't even leave his garden but managed to raise a lot of money and raise the spirits of the nation! Captain Tom is certainly a role model for us all and I believe he is certainly a shining star for us all.

Thank you to everyone that entered the Bake Off competition. We have been so impressed with your cake baking and decorating skills. We only wish that we could have tasted the cakes too!

The Bake Off winners were finally decided last night after a lot of deliberation. I really enjoyed contacting all the winners today to let them know they will receive their prize in the post next week.

Well done to the winners Freya, Isla P, Daniel, Poppy and Mrs Staite and thank you to everyone for taking part. I can't wait to see your Spitfires next week to mark the 75th anniversary of VE day.

The pictures below are all of the wonderful entries received.

Please see the flyer below about the VE day challenge that we have set for you and your children to complete. We look forward to seeing the finished spitfire in flight!

Plese click on the link below for information on how to keep your child safe whilst using the internet and social media.

We are pleased to announce that Mrs Wallace will be commencing her 'Teapot Time'. This will be delivered via a virtual platform called Zoom. If you would like to take part in the meetings, which will take place as normal on a Tuesday morning, then please email the school office on office@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk

You will then be sent an invitiation and information on how to access the meeting. 

Dan and Emily from One Life Music are kindly continuing to record a weekly liturgy for schools and home. It is such a wonderful way to bring us together as a community of prayer and I am sure that we will all be strengthened by it.

Weekly Worship & Song Week 5 is now available:

 https://youtu.be/bs36zxL_EE8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL-kS4ZP6hs&feature=youtu.be

Sunday 3 May 2020. Don’t forget the Liturgy provided by the Vocations Team

https://www.bdes.org.uk/resources-for-prayer-and-learning.html

So many children are feeling worried and anxious right now, the books below will help alleviate some of their fears. 

https://www.flipsnack.com/CSKidsBooks/what-s-going-on.html

https://nursedottybooks.com/dave-the-dog-is-worried-about-coronavirus-2/

The school nurse team are putting out daily tweets and information for parents and young people to help with their activities and emotional health during lock down.

Please see the link below for information and activities to share with your children.

https://twitter.com/SN_Kidd

Please see the blog below from A and S landscape who have donated a wondeful canopy sail for the nurture outdoor area. 

School Grant Guide:

It can often be challenging for schools to secure funding to make improvements around the site and run exciting projects. A&S Landscape, a supplier of dining area canopies, publish a free guide which contains information on over 75 grant opportunities. This guide is updated monthly with all the latest details, you can download the grant guide for free here.

My name is Luke Temple. As a children's author I am passionate about getting children engaged with reading and writing. It is sad that I'm not able to visit schools to do this at the moment.

To help bring a bit of excitement to children's 'home schooling', I have:

The book and activity pack can be downloaded from www.luketemple.co.uk/toolbox

The Oak National Academy is a government backed online learning resource. This is a fabulous way of keeping your child enagaged with their education. Each day there is an online delivery of 3 lessons for your child to enjoy. To access this you will need to go to thenational.academy>>online classroom>>schedule>>then select your child's year group. This will then take you to 3 lesson options that can be completed in any order. This really is a great resource and we hope that you have fun utilising it.

The BBC has launched an education package across TV and online, featuring celebrities and teachers, helping to keep children learning at home and supporting parents.

Thinkuknow is an education programme from the National Crime Agency’s CEOP Command.

Since 2006, Thinkuknow has been keeping children and young people safe by providing education about online abuse.

Thinkuknow aims to ensure that everyone has access to this practical information – children, young people, their parents and carers and the professionals who work with them.

We're excited to tell you that our third #OnlineSafetyAtHome pack is now available with new activities for parents and carers to use at home! Access them here: 

You can still find all of our previous home activity packs on our parents and carers website. These can be downloaded at any time you choose.

A message from SIFA Fireside (Homeless charity)

'The Big Brummie Campout is happening in under two weeks and we are very excited for everyone to get involved.
On Friday the 8th May we are asking friends and families to set up camp in their back gardens, build make-shift dens on balcony's or cushion castles in their front rooms to raise money for SIFA Fireside.

To sign up as a ‘camper’ we are asking supporters to donate a minimum £5 to the appeal, in return for access to an exclusive Activity pack filled with fun activities including stargazing and leaf printing. The pack will have everything needed for an evening under the stars, including family-friendly recipes and craft activities. The evening will also help bring people together, with a hosted live stream, music performances, and the chance to share camping experiences on social media.

https://www.sifafireside.co.uk/pages/181-big-brummie-camp-out-2020

The campaign is being launched as part of our emergency #SIFASurvives appeal, launched in response to a reduction in support due to the Coronavirus epidemic. We're looking to raise £50,000 over the coming months so that we can continue providing homeless and vulnerable adults access to key services such as showers and health clinics, whilst also helping them to work towards a brighter future.

Thank you so much for your support to SIFA Fireside and the work that we do.'

If you'd like to find out more and donate to this very worthy local cause please see here...

https://www.sifafireside.co.uk/pages/181-big-brummie-camp-out-2020

Worcestershire County Council have launched a new public campaign called Here2Help. Please follow the link below to access their website.

http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/Here2Help 

The types of additional support available to people through Here2Help is as follows and the aim is to prevent families/households getting to crisis points:

This is a useful link for us all as also on their webpage they have a keeping kids entertained section and five ways we can look after ourselves and others.

Please see the link below that will take to their webpage with links to a number of activities and educational support links.

Visit https://speechandlanguage.info/parents for lots of speech and language resources, advice and tips for parents working at home with their children who have SLCN.

Please see the useful documents below detailing how to reduce stress and anxiety for you and your child during Covid-19.

These are worrying times for anyone but it can be particularly hard for children, some of whom will struggle to comprehend why they can no longer see their friends at school.

With schools across the UK closing and people being urged to step up social distancing, communities are rallying round to bring a little brightness to young ones amid the gloom.

Please brighten your community by displaying the beautiful rainbows in your windows at home.

Send us a photo of a rainbow in your window to office@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk

Kind regards,

Mrs Brocklesby