Good Afternoon,

'Whatever gifts and talents we are given by God are to be shared with the entire community'.

St Baldwin of Canterbury

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for our school and parish communites. Please help me say 'yes' to you, and enrich the communities to which I belong.

Amen.

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Sister Breeda, a much-loved Ex Headteacher at Saint Ambrose, died on Sunday the 19th of January. Sister Breeda was a teacher in the Infants from 1/9/1955-1/7/1965 and Headteacher from 1/9/1965-1/7/1988. If you remember Sister Breeda and you would like to share your memories with the children, please contact the school office. I will be attending her funeral on Friday 31st January to represent Saint Ambrose School.

Kinga in Year 6 wrote to Sister Anastasia at a convent in Knock and I am delighted to share her reply. The reason Kinga wrote to her was because Kinga chose Anastasia as her Confirmation name.

We will be supporting the national Children's Mental Health Week, which takes place 3-9 February.The week is organised by the charity Place2Be and it shines a spotlight on the importance of children and young people's mental health. This year's theme is Find your Brave. During that week all children will take part in assemblies and activities organised by Place2Be. If you have any ideas or could recommend any visitors for us please speak to a member of staff.

We will be celebrating Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 11th February. The theme for this year is 'Together for a better internet.' Safer internet Day is designed to empower young people to take control of their digital lives. This year the focus will be on online identity. To ensure the children are in control of their digital lives, a police engagement officer will be delivering an E-safety workshop to years 1-6 on Monday. Next week we will be sharing details of an E-safety event for parents which will be held in school.

Pope Francis established the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time as the “Word of God Sunday,” in order to put more emphasis on the holy word of God and how it can have a real impact on our lives. One way to do that is to pray with scripture, opening ourselves up to God’s inspiration through our reading of it. The more we read scripture, the more we recognize how God calls us to action, following in his footsteps, and formulating a plan to confront the challenges facing humanity.

During the Year of the Word the children in school are ‘journeying with Matthew’, by looking at a different chapter from his Gospel each week in assembly. This week the focus was on prayer with Chapter 6: 9 – 15 telling us how Jesus taught us how to pray by giving us the Lord’s Prayer.

Throughout this special year, Pope Francis has dedicated a different prayer focus each month. This month’s prayer intention is for the promotion of world peace and justice. Fr. William Blazek, SJ (Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network USA & Canada) reminds us of Jesus’ teaching about peace: quoting John’s Gospel “Peace I leave with you, peace is my gift to you.” (Jn 14:27) The peace that Jesus gives brings serenity and freedom:  The Hebrew word for peace, is shalom. In the translation of the Bible into Greek it became Eirene, which includes a sense of wholeness, completeness, success, fulfilment, harmony, security and even well-being.

As the Our Father is one of the first prayers the children are taught to say in school, perhaps our Bible challenge this week could be to pray the Lord’s Prayer together as a family, keeping the Pope’s prayer intention of peace in mind as we pray.

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

If your son or daughter is selected to receive an award at a Celebration Assembly this year you will receive two invitations from school on a Thursday. The first invitation is a push notification and the second invite is a slip in your son or daughter's book bag.

Please pop into the school office at any time if you are not receiving the push notifications. 

Well done to the children who received an award this week, they are;

James B, Leonardo B, Emily G, Jack G, Lenna H, Xavier H, Aleksandra L, Apolonia M, Logan M, Kinga M, Izzie M, Katie O, Riccardo S, Molly S.

Year 6 have been reflecting on images of Christ and who Jesus is to them. 

Year 5 have been thinking how God speaks to them.

Today Chloe from Year 6 showcased her wonderful art abilities. I'm sure you can guess which Harry Potter character she has drawn so well.

To end our topics this half term, every class will be inviting parents to their express event to share what they have learnt. The express events will be held the week commencing 11th February.

Years 1 and 2 Tuesday 11th February 2.40pm

Year 5 and Reception (after phonics workshop) Wednesday 12th February 2.40 pm

Year 6 Thursday 13th February 2.40 pm

School Council Meeting 22^nd January 2020

For Catholic life Luke discussed the year of the word.

We went through the suggestion box and some of the key ideas that will be fed back to Mrs Brocklesby are:

More equipment for wet play

Singing competition

More football

Cooking class at lunch time

The rainbow table to come back as a treat for good behaviour

Raise money for a cancer charity

More school trips

Maths club

Reception have kindly agreed to be in charge of the suggestion box.

Our next meeting date has been set for Wednesday 29^th January.

Please see below the dates for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 tests. If your son or daughter is in Year 2 or Year 6 you will be invited to attend an information workshop this term to update you on how you can support your son or daughter. The session will start with Mass followed by an information session in the school hall and the morning will conclude with an opportunity for you to work with your son or daughter.

Year 2 February 12th 9-11.30 am 

Year 6 March 4th 9-11.30 am

Two nominations have now been recieved for the position of parent representative and as there is only one vacancy a secret ballot must take place. Every parent or carer with a child attending Saint Ambrose is entitled to one vote. Last week every child brought home supporting statements from both candidates and ballot papers. Please return your ballot paper by Monday 27th January.

We have places available in Years Reception, 1, 4, 5 & 6. If you know of anyone who would be interested, please refer them to the School Office in the first instance.

TAPP are organising another 'Bake Off'. It will be held on Friday 14th February. Watch this space for more information.

Well done Year 2!!

First Holy Communion Day is Saturday 13th June 2020.

The preparation classes for your child this academic year will be held after school on a Wednesday 3.10-4pm (see below for the dates).

Father Lamb will lead the evening meetings for parents at 6.30pm in the Parish Centre. The first one will be held on Tuesday 28th January. 

If any more parents would like to sign up for the first aid course please speak to Mrs Wallace who will register you on the course. It is being run by Worcestershire County Council, Family Links and is FREE if you earn £16,000 or less.

The course will be held in the Parish rooms at 9am - 10.30am on Tuesday 25th Feb and Tuesday 3rd March 9am - 10.30am, free tea and coffee will be available and a certificate of attendance will be issued.

Thank you to everyone who attended the Understanding your child session at school on Monday. I will keep you posted about any more opportunities that we can offer.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the food bank collection before Christmas. We donated an amazing 164.80kg of items that have been distributed to the local community.

We will be continuing the collection of non-perishable food items for the food bank. If you can bring the items in on a Friday and the local foodbank will collect them on a monthly basis.

Our next collection date will be the end of February.

With February Half Term around the corner we wanted to inform you that 'Fit For Sport' will be running holiday kids camps from the 17-21^st February at the nearby Wyre Forest leisure centre. Please see the link below for more information.

Please see below the Mass dates for the Spring Term.

PLEASE REGULARLY CHECK THE DIARY DATES FOR ANY UPDATES.

CAN WE PLEASE REMIND YOU THAT VIOLIN LESSONS ARE ON A MONDAY AND CLARINET LESSONS ARE ON A FRIDAY. PLEASE CAN YOU ENSURE THAT YOUR CHILD BRINGS THEIR INSTRUMENT INTO SCHOOL WITH THEM ON THE RELEVANT DAYS. MANY THANKS.

Toast is available to the children on the following days:

KS2 will only be able to buy toast on a Tuesday break time.

KS1 will only be able to buy toast on a Thursday break time.

The cost per slice will remain at 20p which is to be given to the class teacher in exchange for a token that the children will use to get their toast.

Thank you for your support in this venture.

If you or anyone you know would be interested in going along to the Parish's Baby and Toddler group, the sessions are held on Wednesdays in term time from 9-11 am (except the last Wednesday of the month). We welcome newborn up to pre-school children and their parents. Your first session will be free of charge and thereafter will be 80p. This cost includes refreshments for you and your child. We have an array of toys and activities for you and your child to enjoy and this is also a great opportunity to meet and socialise with other families. If you have any enquiries, please see the Facebook page 'St Ambrose Toddlers Kidderminster'.

This initiative allows vital funds to be available to our Parish in order to meet its financila obligations. There is a total prize fund of £2,500 equating to monthly prizes of £75, £50 and £25 along with the 'Big Christmas Draw' with prizes of £400, £200 and £100. The cost for this initiative is £24 per annum, payable monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annually in January. We would love to welcome many more new members. If you wish to join the 200 club please fill in a form that will be available from the school office or at the back of the Church and return to either the office or the rectory. 

For further information please contact either Janine Nicholls or Martin Grovenor using the details on the application forms.

St Ambrose

Sunday 11am & 6pm

Saturday 11:45 am - 12:45 pm, and by request.

Please see the attached poster detailing the Montini Group meetings for 2019/2020.

Kind regards,

Mrs Brocklesby