'If you do not love your family are they even your family?'
Amelia - Y5

This week I was fortunate enough to attend a Parish meeting and I am pleased to share some dates for our diaries:

Sunday 18th July 11 am Outdoor Family Mass celebrating the End of the Term to be held in the Church garden.

Year 4 children will be leading the Mass and we will be remembering their First Holy Communion. It will also be an opportunity for the children who made their First Holy Communion last Saturday to wear their dresses and suits again (if this is possible). After the Mass, Year 3 children will be called for a group photograph in Church.

Sunday 19th September 11 am Outdoor Family Mass welcoming everyone to Church to be held in the Church garden.

Year 6 (September 2021) children will be leading the Mass to mark the start of their preparation to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in December 2021.

Congratulations to Year Three! Our children received the Sacrament of First Communion last Saturday. It was a beautiful and moving Mass as we all strengthened our bond with Jesus as they received communion for the first time.  Thank you to Father Lamb, Miss Ballard, Miss Holtom, Mrs Baylie and Parishioners who cleaned the Church for organising such a wonderful celebration of our Catholic faith. As Father Lamb mentioned in his reflective homily, it will be a day that the children will always remember.

 After the event at the weekend, they had a celebratory afternoon on Monday. They enjoyed crisps and chocolate, and spent the afternoon designing and painting their own crosses.

On Tuesday, we celebrated the feast day of Saint Peter and Saint Paul as a whole school: Year 6 went to church and the rest of the school participated virtually. We were really impressed with Y6 readers and the reverence shown by all children during Mass.

After Mass, Year 6 reflected on Father Lamb's homily and here are some of the important things Year 6 learnt:

'Saint Paul was great a missionary and he wanted everyone to follow Jesus' - Lacie.

'They are both powerful role-models in the church community. We can listen to God like they did so we know what He wants us to do' - Erin

'St Paul said: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" this tells me that I can do all things through Jesus who will help me.' - Isla

Year 3 enjoyed a pyjama party this week as their reward for raising the most money in the Smarties Tube Challenge!  They were very grateful for popcorn and squash provided by TAPP, and they enjoyed watching Aladdin followed by a pillow fight!

Dear Year 5 parents/carers,

It is with great pleasure that I can say the Pyramid Virtual Event will be available to stream from Monday 12th July until Monday 19th July.

I have now completed all 31 videos and have produced the final show.

It all looks great and I'm sure you are all keen to see it.

Although the IT team have not given me the "access code" that parents/ carers etc will need to view the event, this will be sent to you next week. 

All the best

Fred Mallinson

"Life throws challenges and every challenge comes with rainbows and lights to conquer it."

Thank you to everyone for donating a selection of coloured plants and to Mr.Maffei for buiding the flower bed. It is wonderful to see a rainbow of colour that marks the support we show and have shown each other. 

If you have some spare time next week please book a session between 3.30pm and 4.30pm via the School Life app to come and paint our playground fence, shelter or wall. 

We are currently beginning the process of transition across the school in order to ensure that all of the children feel ready and prepared for September. On Thursday 8th July all children will meet their new teacher(s) and teaching assistant. 

We are really proud of how hard ALL pupils have worked in school this week. On Monday morning, in our whole school virtual celebration assembly, the following children will be receiving a certificate for their fantastic efforts:

Soon we will be saying a fond farewell to our fantastic Year 6 pupils and we would like to mark this with a celebration of the children’s time at school. On Monday 19th July, we will be holding their outdoor event which will include a mini graduation ceremony and an opportunity for Year 6 to share their memories and work they are proud of with parents, carers and staff.

We are also very excited to invite Year 6 parents, families and carers to join us for a fantastic End of Year Production: 'The Pirates of the Curry Bean' which Year 6 will be performing on Friday 16th July. There will be two performances: one at 9.15am and the other at 1.30pm. We kindly ask that up to two people book to join one performance. Our aim is for the production be performed on the playground and we are praying that the weather stays nice for the occasion. Bookings for this event are now open on ParentPay and rehearsals are already well underway. 

Year 6 Leavers Mass will be Monday 19th July at 5pm in St Ambrose's Church.

Due to the government update sports days will take place in class bubbles on our school grounds. For this reason we will not be inviting spectators this year but we will produce a sports day blog with photographs after each event (this will be shared with parents the following day).

Summer fun afternoons start next week with year 2 on Monday, please see the dates below. The children will be able to come to school in their own summer suitable clothes e.g. shorts, t-shirt and trainers (not flip flops).

I would like to thank the teapot time group and TAPP for helping to make this a fun event by organising and funding a cone of chips and an ice cream for all children along with summer activities set up in the playground. If you have not returned the reply slip regarding dietary requirements, please return the slip (all children have received a letter Friday 25th June). Thank you for your support, this will enable us to pre-order summer food for everyone.

School Reports will be available on Friday 9th July. The report will highlight your son or daughter's achievements and identify targets and developmental steps for their next academic year. You will have an opportunity to book an appointment to discuss the report and your child's progress if you wish week beginning 12th July.

Due to sports day Tea Pot time will not be taking place on Tuesday 6th and 13th of July.

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

Our virtues for this half term are faith-filled and hopeful. We growing to be faith-filled in our beliefs and are hopeful for the future.

We help our pupils to grow by passing on the living and faith-filled tradition of Jesus Christ and by encouraging them to have faith and hope in others.

 Please bring both indoor and outdoor footwear, packed lunch, drinks and waterproof clothing. Due to the restrictions all courses will be outdoors, in the event of adverse weather conditions, we may have to cancel. 

To book a place email harrierscommunity@hotmail.co.uk or phone 01562 863821. Please leave the child’s name, age, school year, any medical conditions, an emergency contact and which course you want to attend. Payment details will be sent with confirmation of booking.

Please see the flyers below that gives details of groups that will be run by starting, well in partnership with Barnardo's, over the summer.

Do you know of any prospective parents who may be interested in their child joining us in September? If so, please do encourage them to call school for more information and encourage them to follow us on social media. 

We are also looking to promote our school further. Please review us on google if you have a google account and we would be very grateful if you could send us a testimonial which we can add to our promotions work and website. If you are happy for us to share your testimonials please follow the link provided on the news section of our website.

Each Wednesday at 2.45pm, Miss Brewer will be sharing a story with Reception children and we are inviting you to join this at home on Zoom too. If you have young children at home or know of any other families who would like to join us for this please share the following details:

Meeting ID:4974976598 Password: ambrose123

Please see the letter from the director of children's services and the director of public health.

Please see the following documents from NHS Test and Trace and NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group 

Latest update on testing and isolation periods.

• If a child or member of staff tests positive, they now have to self-isolate for at least 10 days, even if they feel well.
• If they are NOT a known contact of a confirmed case they can return to school if the result is negative, providing they feel well and they have not had a fever for 48 hours.
• If they are a contact of a confirmed case, they must stay off school for 14 days isolation period, even if they test negative. This is because they can develop the infection at any point up to 14 days after being in contact a confirmed case. This would apply to pupils and staff who have been in a bubble with a positive testing child.  School Leadership will decide which members of staff have come into close proximity with the bubble and therefore also need to self-isolate for 14 days.
• Please be aware that anyone admitted to hospital is likely to receive a test for Covid, whether they are showing symptoms or not.  
• Covid symptoms are now being classed as: a persistent cough, high temperature, and/or loss of taste and smell.
• No action needs to be taken as a school until a test result is shared with us.

Please also note that we cannot request test results, parents have to approach us with results.

Please see the following covid documents from Public Health.

Kind Regards,

Mrs Brocklesby