Good Afternoon,

On this unusual day, I would like to assure you that we will be here for you throughout the period of school closure.  You may just want a chat or inform us about how your child is dealing with the social distancing requirements in the fight against COVID-19; please call 01562 823568 or email office@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk.

We care very much about you and your child.  Crucially, we are acutely aware of the need to look after you and your child’s mental wellbeing.  We want you to know that we will do all we can to try to retain some form of normality and routine in your child’s life.  We also want to support their education so they are not disadvantaged during the closure.

By working on the educational tasks set on the class pages, children will reduce a sense of boredom or frustration.  This will improve their mood and feelings.   Please start on the tasks identified for week 1 on Monday 23rd March, I have encouraged all the children to wear their school jumper while they work and to send their photo to office@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk. We will tweet regular photos, challenges, activities and uplifting quotes. Please follow us we will be there to support you.

@ambrose_primary

We know it can be hard to stick to a routine, so we have provided you with a timetable as an idea of how you can structure your day (see timetable for year 3).

You will see 'PE with Joe Wicks' timetabled at 9am every day.  Joe Wicks is a Body Coach, and he will be providing children of all ages with daily 30 minute PE lessons.  His videos will be published on his Youtube Channel, starting on Monday 23rd March.

Here are some ideas from the NHS website of what you can do as a family to support your wellbeing:

You can also go for a walk outdoors if you stay more than 2 metres from others.

Please keep in touch.  We will get through this together.

As requested by Government Saint Ambrose School is open next week for children from all years who fall into the vulnerable categories already announced (any child with an EHCP or Social Worker) and to children of key workers. If you fall into one of those categories your son or daughter has recieved a letter today.

I would also like to confirm that all future calendared events have now been cancelled or postponed until further notice. Thank you one and all for all your patience, understanding and support over the last few days and in anticipation of that support and understanding continuing in the days and weeks ahead.

Dear Lord Jesus, help us to see you more clearly - to believe in you and to share your light and healing with all those around us.

Amen

Congratulations to all of the children who received an award this week, they were;

........

Dear Parents,

As you may well have seen on the website I will be leaving school on May 1^st. I am fortunate to have been offered the opportunity to pursue a lifelong hobby and therefore will be taking early retirement to embark on a new career as a Holiday Site Assistant for the Camping and Caravanning Club, along with my husband and the dog! I will always treasure fond memories from 14 happy years at St Ambrose and would like to personally thank everyone for their support and cooperation. I would particularly like to thank you all for your prayers and kind messages during the time I was off ill. I will continue to take a keen interest in St Ambrose school and its wonderful pupils and dedicated staff and have no doubt that it will continue to go from strength to strength.

God Bless

Mrs Stewart

This week we have celebrated the Feast Day of two important saints who teach us that God has a plan for each one of us even if it is not always what we would wish for. On Tuesday it was the feast day of Saint Patrick who brought Christianity to Ireland and on Thursday we honored St Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Both Saints saw their life as an ingredient in a drama that God was directing and producing and placed their trust in God.

St Patrick once said, "The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same. I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain." Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us. So complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission, he feared nothing -not even death.

From the Gospels, we learn that St Joseph was an ordinary man of deep faith who was called to become the foster- father of Christ. He became the earthly guardian of the Messiah, responsible for his upbringing and tasked with protecting him in his early life. He was committed to his vocation as the husband of Mary and foster father of Christ and did whatever it took to keep his family safe. Although little is said about him, the New Testament shows him as a devout man who always trusted in God and took care of his family. St Joseph is the ultimate husband and father, a faithful man of quiet strength. He shows us the beauty of a life lived in obedience to God’s will. This week take some time to read the stories about St Joseph in the Bible and reflect on how we can follow his example within our own families.

For your own personal development try reading the Bible in a year using an app such as Bible in One Year.

Mrs Tew would like to thank everyone for their support and donations to enable her to raise an amazing £352 to support the Ahlzeimers Society.

Traditionally Lent is a time, where during the 40 days leading up to Easter, we think about Jesus’ time in the desert refusing to give into temptation, so we give up something such as chocolate or crisps. Father Lamb also reminded the children that this is a time where we can also do something extra, particularly in this Year of the Word. He suggested they think of it in terms of the 3 R’s: Repent, Reflect and Retreat – saying sorry to God and each other, taking time to think about what Jesus tells us in the Bible about how God wants us to behave towards each other and  spending quiet time to get to know God better and think about how we should follow Jesus’ example.

On World Book Day we launched our 'Readathon' challenge to help raise money for disadvantaged children in schools and hospitals across the country and each child received a sponsorship form to bring home. The money we raise will help these children enjoy brand new books and inspiring storyteller visits. We will also get brand new books for our school! Please can we ask you to support your child with this challenge. All sponsorship forms and monies need to returned to school by Monday 20th April.

Channel 4 are looking for the UK's best young bakers for their tv show. They are accepting applications until the 5th of April.

Interested bakers can apply online at - WWW.APPLYFORJUNIORBAKEOFF.CO.UK 

Thank you to TAPP for organising Easter gifts for all our children.

I will be sending regular push notifications and weekly updates so please keep checking the School Life App and make sure you are logged in.

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 that some children have created at school today.

Kind regards,

Mrs Brocklesby