Good afternoon,

It has been another great week with children quickly adapting to being back in the classroom. As staff, we will always remember the sheer joy and delight on the faces of the children upon seeing their friends and teachers again. It has been a powerful reminder of how much children had missed the social and emotional aspects of school life. Throughout this COVID-19 period, we have always worked on the basis, of ‘what we can do’, rather than ‘what we can’t do’. We are working hard to bring back as many aspects of school life as quickly as possible. It was great, for example, to  welcome our sport coaches into school this week.

This week our children have been living out the three principles of our Behaviour Policy to Be Ready, Be Respectful and Be Safe. I have continued to be really impressed with children making the right choices around school for themselves without being  prompted and reminded. I will be holding zoom meetings for parents to update you about Saint Ambrose School principles:'Be Ready, Be Respectful and Be Safe.'

Zoom meeting for parents Tuesday 30th March 10am or

Zoom meeting for parents Tuesday 30th March 5pm

Please note you only need to attend one meeting and zoom codes will be sent out prior to the meeting.

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. This week Miss Ballard has filmed a virtual tour of our school which we are very excited about and will add it to our website as soon as it is edited.

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, starting next week, 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

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

This half term, we are focussing on the virtures: attentive and discerning. We are growing to be attentive to our experience and to our vocation; and discerning about the choices we make and the effects of those choices. Please do let us know if your child shows these virtues at home by emailing Miss Holtom: year6@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk. Thank you

Today has been Saint Joseph's Feast Day. According to ancient tradition, Saint Joseph watches over and protects the Church; he is considered the model of perfect Christian life and the patron of a happy death and as a school we spent time learning even more about him. It was a special day, because this year we always ask him to pray for us at the end of our prayers as we are celebrating the year of Saint Joseph (as declared by Pope Francis).

Everyone was also encouraged to 'put their best foot forward' and wear odd shoes to help support our chosen Lenten charity: Father Hudson's. We are delighted with the donations we received today to support the amazing work this wonderful charity does to help people in need, improving their quality of life.

St Joseph, teach us to listen to the voice of God in our lives and to always welcome his love into our hearts. Amen

West Mercia Police are asking Primary aged children to make Easter bonnets and sent us the photo of them wearing it for the competition.

Start date 1^st MARCH

Entries in by 28^th MARCH

Winners announced on 1^st APRIL

Name, age and year group.

Parent contact details and consent for use of social media.

There will be prizes for a few different age ranges. 

Please send your photos to Kidderminstereast.snt@westmercia.pnn.police.uk with the above information by the deadline of 28^th March 2021.

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

Miss Brewer led our Gospel assembly this morning and all our pupils had the opportunity to talk about how well we have been following Jesus' example so far in Lent. Take a look at some of Year 3's reflections:

At St Ambrose, we believe that reading is extremely important. Studies show that reading for pleasure makes a big difference to children’s educational performance and therefore their futures. As children start to learn to read at school, you can play an important role in helping to keep them interested in books. Find out what interests them, help them to find books that will be engaging and fun, and spend time reading the books they bring home from school together. We have put the following links together to support you to help develop and improve your child's love of reading:

We are now set-up for online payments via Parentpay and all payments to school will need to be made online after Easter with the exception of School Lunches. Letters were sent out to all parents with set up and individual user details and we have re-sent the letters today for thos parents who haven't already activated their accounts.

Please can we ask that upon receipt of your letter you activate your account as you will not be able to book any clubs, trips or other activities without doing so.

Until the end of term, children can have a packed lunch at school with a choice of cheese, ham or tuna sandwich filling. Children in Reception, Y1 and Y2 do not need to make payment nor do children in receipt of free school meals. If you would like your child to have a packed lunch and they do not fall into the above categories you must notify the school office of their sandwich choice and make payment of £2.30 per meal.

We anticipate hot dinners to be phased back in after Easter. Anyone who had paid for hot dinners before lockdown will have a credit balance.

We will be sending out menus for after the Easter break over the course of next week. Please can we ask that everyone who would like a meal (universal free school meals, free school meals and paid meals) to complete the menu and return to the school office. If we do not receive a menu for your child we will assume that you do not want them to take a meal.

Please contact the school office should you need further clarification or support with this.

If your child has a food allergy or intolerance that has been medically diagnosed, please can you complete and return the form below. Even if your child only takes school dinners occassionally or on themed days it is imperative that Class Catering have this information so that they can create a bespoke menu if and when needed for your child.

Please click on the link below to access the Spring Edition of raring2go. 

Please see the flyers below detailing webinars for you to access. These webinars are produced and delivered by the children's charity, Barnardos.

Maybe you have heard about the online courses for parents, FREE for residents in our area?

The Solihull Approach (NHS) have launched a NEW online course!

How do I access?

www.inourplace.co.uk

 What’s the code?

Ø  If you haven’t used it already here is the access code for all the online courses (funded for residents of Worcestershire): SOLIHULLKPPROVWHWCS

Ø  If, like many parents, you have already used this code, log into your account here and this course will be ready in your dashboard to start whenever you are ready.

 Can I tell my family and friends?

Absolutely! Share the news with other families in the area so that they too can take advantage of this fantastic opportunity.

 How long is it?

There are 7 modules which each take about 5 minutes to complete and will benefit from time to digest in between. 

If you like this…

…you might like the bigger ‘Understanding your child’ or ‘Understanding your child with additional needs’, or other courses in the series. www.inourplace.co.uk

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