Good Morning,

I cannot believe that we have reached half term so quickly! Thank you for all your support throughout this difficult time. We are so grateful to have you all as part of our school community. 

As we prepare for Pentecost next weekend, I would like to share a prayer to the Holy Spirit seeking his strength and guidance: 

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.
And kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And you will renew the face of the earth.

Lord,
by the light of the Holy Spirit
you have taught the hearts of your faithful.
In the same Spirit
help us to relish what is right
and always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen. 

As you are aware, the government have deemed it safe for limited pupils to potentially begin returning to school from 1st June, at the earliest, and have decided that schools should take in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils in the first instance alongside existing provision for the children of key workers.  

The MAC has taken the decision to prioritise Year 6, in the first instance, and as part of our first
phase of re-opening, as we know that the older children are more likely to understand and
comply with the new arrangements more successfully than our very youngest children.
Therefore, we plan, subject to being able to satisfy all the safety checks and having the necessary
staff available, to open our schools to our Year 6 children from 2 June. Please note, however, that
if we are not ready to reopen to our Year 6 children by 2 June, we will extend this timescale for reopening until we are certain that we have met all the requirements of our risk assessments and
will keep you informed if the date for welcoming back Year 6 pupils changes. 

I am so pleased to inform you that Father Lamb will be continuing to say Mass every day next week at 9am via a live stream from the Prayer Room. You can celebrate Mass with Father by following the link below and selecting the 'Live Stream Masses' tab from the menu on the left hand side.

THANK YOU for sharing your views, they have really made a difference. As a result of us all working together we have changed the format of the home learning plans and I have been delighted to hear that parents have been pleased with the changes.

This week is half term so please enjoy some family time together.

Please continue to share your views by joining Mrs Wallace for her virtual teapot time next week. If you are free to join on Tuesday please email office@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk and the meeting details will be emailed to you

The winner of the Values and Virtues challenge is Jack G in Reception. Well done Jack! Please see the comments below on why Jack was nominated for this challenge.

'Jack has been a ray of sunshine during the lockdown, always willing to give a cuddle , making his nanny and grandad feel a little better about not seeing him by FaceTiming them to show them his school work and although I am definitely not the best teacher he has put up with me and tried his very best!'

Thank you to everyone who sent in their talent for last week's challenge.You are all amazing and we have really enjoyed seeing what wonderful talents you have! Please see below for the winners.

Please click on the link to see the video compilation of the winners and runners up.

We have found cake box that has not been collected. If this is yours (see picture below) please can you collect it from the school foyer. If it is not collected we will have to dispose of it.

Thank you.

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 8 is now available:

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

My name is Claire and I am part of the Severn Trent Education Team. To date I haven’t yet visited your school and as we’re currently unable to organise a visit, our team wanted to share a selection of the free online resources we’ve put together. We hope these resources will ensure children can continue to learn about all the things we are passionate about: our sewers, the importance of keeping hydrated, looking after our wonderful water and protecting our environment.

Our online page is packed with fun activities that include core school subjects and more. Most of the activities children can do independently but where adult support is needed, we will ensure that it is made clear in the instructions.

We will be adding new content each Monday over the coming weeks so be sure to regularly check out our page for new resources. All resources can be found at www.stwater.co.uk/kidszone.

We really appreciate the work schools are doing to ensure our vulnerable children and children of key workers are looked after. During this challenging time, we hope our resources will help you to engage the children in purposeful, fun activities.

With many children having been home schooled for over a month now, we are aware that Internet Safety may not be at the forefront of their minds.

Therefore, we have created an Internet Safety Video, specially for Primary aged children, which we are giving to you now, completely free, with all our best wishes.

You can access the video by cliking on the link below.

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.

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.

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

Though many of our half term plans may have been put on hold, let's hope that the sun keeps shining and we can enjoy a 'staycation' at home! 

Kind regards,

Mrs Brocklesby.