'If you are nice to your friends and never hurt them,
then they will treat you the same.' 

-Charlie Y3

First of all I want to thank you for the help and support you have given to your children as they prepared for the Sacraments of Reconciliation (confession) and their First Holy Communion. This is a time of great joy, not only for you and your family but for the wider parish community of Saint Ambrose. The Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion are very important steps in your child's life as a Catholic. For all Catholics, First Reconciliation and First Communion are two of the most special moments of our lives. I am looking forward to celebrating with families at Mass at 12 o'clock tomorrow.

Year 3 are looking forward to their First Holy Communion tomorrow at 12 pm.  Yesterday Father Lamb came to speak to them and help with final preparations.  They have worked hard and have enjoyed their journey to become closer to God, and Miss Ballard is very proud of them. I would also like to thank all staff for their commitment to prepare the children so thoroughly and with particular thanks to Miss Ballard, Mrs Baylie and Miss Holtom.

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

 A tea towel of hope will be available for parents to buy at either the end of term in July or September 2021 depending on the suppliers. The proof has been sent off and the designs can be seen in the office window and on the slideshow below. Thank you to the Teapot group for selecting the hands as a border which is a great symbol of our community spirit.

Mr. Maffei has now prepared the rainbow flower bed and the garden by the gate so we are asking for plants from Monday. The colours we are requesting are Reception children red, Year 1 children orange, Year 2 children yellow, Year 3 children green, Yellow 4 children blue, Year 5 children pink and Year 6 children purple. I can't wait to see our school rainbow.

From Monday if you have some spare time you will be able to book a session to come and paint our playground fence, shelter or wall. Following on from feedback at Teapot time all sessions will be week beg 5th July between 3.15 pm and 6 pm-Thank you for all your help.

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. 

Please see the following staffing updates for next academic year:

We will be welcoming Miss Gawthorp to our school as the Reception Class teacher. Please read the letter below from Miss Gawthorp introducing herself to families.

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:

Next week, we will participating in the NSPCC's Speak out. Stay safe. online programme. This will consist of an online assembly and supporting classroom based activities. It aims to help children understand abuse in all its forms and to recognise the signs of abuse in a child friendly, interactive way. Children are taught to speak our if they are worried, either to a trusted adult or Childline. Please see the following letter for further information.

We are very proud of our Year 6 pupils who completed their Bikeability Level 2 training this week. They have developed their riders’ skills and confidence for cycling on single-lane roads and simple junctions and we were very impressed with how they conducted themselves throughout the week. They will be receiving their badges and certificates in Celebration Assembly on Monday morning.

We have been amazed by the fantastic writing Year 6 have produced for their end of year assessments. On Tuesday, they were challenged to create a comic strip and we were impressed with their creativity.

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 bubbbles 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).

We are about to start organising our summer fun afternoons and now need to ask for help and support. We have decided to organise a summer fun afternoon for every year group, 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. To ensure all dietary requirements are met please return the slip (all children have received a letter Friday 25th June) below by Wednesday 30^th June at the latest. 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.

We are very lucky that we are trialling the GO read App in Reception, Year Three and Year Four for the next few weeks. This is an exciting opportunity to move our reading on and track the reading effectively across year groups. In a few weeks time a feedback form will be sent out to fill in. Any problems with accessing the app please speak to your child's class teacher.

Mrs Wallace will be holding teapot time on Tuesday morning. Everyone is welcome to attend.

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.

The Harriers afterschool club is bookable and payable via parentpay.

Mr Garvey's multi-sports club is bookable and payable via the sporstars website which you can access using the following link. Spaces are limited.

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