Good Afternoon,

Thank you to everyone who joined us at our Ash Wednesday Mass to mark the beginning of the Lenten Season. All children attended and were marked with the cross of ashes. We receive them on our foreheads as a sign that we want to turn away from sin, and to follow Jesus. The children’s participation in this Mass was very reverent and we feel very proud of their prayerful conduct in the Church!

"LENT IS A 'POWERFUL' SEASON, A TURNING POINT THAT CAN FOSTER CHANGE IN EACH OF US."

POPE FRANCIS

Celebration Assembly will be held just after 9am on Monday 2nd March.

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.

Year 6 and Mrs Stewart will be organising a celebration to remember Sister Breda at Saint Ambrose School. The celebration will be on Friday March 6th at 2pm. Everyone is welcome, including people who knew Sister Breda and would like to share their memories and anyone who would like to learn more about her.

As we enter into the season of Lent we continue our journey with St Matthew, having described the miracles as signs of God’s Kingdom, he next explores the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven, telling us how Jesus spoke to people in parables. Stories were an important way that Jesus helped people to understand God’s message for them. During Lent we are encouraging the children to reflect on their own relationship with Jesus and God by reading stories from the Bible as part of their quiet reading time in class; to get to know the Bible as a special book through which God speaks to them.

Before telling a series of stories to describe the Kingdom of Heaven he first invites the people to come to him and rest. In Chapter 11:28 – 30 he explains, ‘…learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest.” This week’s challenge in our busy world, is to take Jesus at his word and try to find some space to stop and rest and just be alone with him… with a good book … the Bible.

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

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.

At St Ambrose Lent is always a time where we think of others. Traditionally during Lent each class has decided on a fundraising event for a charity of their choice. This year we are making our Lenten Observances through three whole school events:

Bric-a-Brac sale

Sponsored Readathon

Foodbank Friday

Information on all of these events can be found throughout the newsletter.

All classes have had a hygiene lesson this week to ensure they are aware of the importance of washing their hands regularly. Please remind your son or daughter to follow these five steps every time.

The Y6 SVP will be collecting food donations for the foodbank, from each class every Friday during Lent. Please contribute generously as always.

 Once again, a sincere thank you for all your support with helping the children to think of others less fortunate than themselves during Lent.

This spring the Diocese are running a competition for children in all diocesan schools, with the theme of ‘The God Who Speaks’. They are asking pupils to build a Lego scene of Vocation based on Scripture and to send pictures to office@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk

All entries will be shared at the weekly Gospel Assembly on a Friday. We have already recieved our first entry and remember there will be prizes for winning pupils. The closing date is Thursday 19th March (St. Joseph’s Day), with the winners announced on the Solemnity of the Annunciation (25th March). Please see below the poster and rules and entry information.

Hobby day was extremely successful and children enjoyed showcasing their talents and talking about what they do for fun outside of school.

This is what some children had to say:

'We had a great hobby day. Everyone looked really good and we saw a variety of clubs like footabll, cheerleading and boxing.' -  Molly.

'I have enjoyed hobby day today. I wore my Mikey's Boxing Gym clothes. It was intereseting to see the other children's hobbies in other classes.' - Adrian.

'I really enjoyed hobby day because I have learnt about other people's hobbies and I also enjoyed playing my guitar for my class.' - James.

Today your child will come home with a potato that we would like them to dress as their favourite book character, in support of World Book Day on Thursday 5th March.

A winning entry from each class will receive a prize.

To celebrate our love of reading and having a new library we will be holding a sponsored Readathon during Lent, again raising money for a very worthy cause.  Look out on the newsletter for the exciting details about this event.

Please see the link below to the exciting events and challenges we have organised for World Book Day.

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 

Mrs Tew completed a marathon (26.2 miles) for Alzheimers Society in memory of her Mum who suffered with Alzheimers. She completed the marathon over 3 days, w/c 24^th February. Dementia UK are researching ways to improve the life of people suffering with dementia and support for their families and Mrs Tew is fundraising to support them.

If you would like to donate, please click on the link https://jogondementia.everydayhero.com/uk/barb

We are so so proud of Scarlet, in Year 6, who had an amazing 19" of hair cut off to donate to 'The Little Princess Trust'. She has also raised over £900 for The Mary Stevens Hospice. Scarlet would like to thank everyone who donated to this worthwhile cause.

Well done Scarlet!!

In a similar format to the Reverse Advent Calendar, from next week, each child will be given a day when they are encouraged to bring in an item to sell – book, toy, hairband etc. (NOT FOOD or CLOTHING) to contribute to a whole school Bric a Brac sale on Friday 3^rd April with the money raised being divided between supporting pupils in school and a charity of the children’s choice. Any leftover items will also be donated towards helping a charity such as Kemp or Oxfam.

Please don't forget to follow us on Twitter where you can see all the wonderful tweets that the teachers share.

@ambrose_primary

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.

Mr. Hodgson and Mr. Miatowski from Hagley High School will be present at parents evening on Monday 30th March between 3.30pm and 6pm to talk to year 6 parents. If you would like an appointment to see them you can book this via the School Life app.

We will be holding an E-Safety presentation for Parents/Carers on Friday 6^th March at 9.15am. It will be led by PC Simon Gallagher of West Mercia Police.

This will be an informative and insightful presentation that will give you invaluable advice on how to keep your child safe online, given the dangers posed to our children in today’s society. It will cover a variety of topics and scenarios such as gaming and social media and will give parents invaluable tools to make sure that their child is safe online.

Thank you to all of the parents, carers and family members who attended the Year 2 SATS workshop. We hope that you found it informative and that you enjoyed spending time in schoool with your child.

Please can we remind you that Miss Holtom will be holding the Year 6 SATS workshop on Wednesday 4th March. If will begin with Mass in Church at 9.15am, if you can attend, followed by the class workshop. This is a really informative and worthwhile presenation that will help you and your child to prepare for their upcoming tests.

Please see below the dates for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 tests.

First Holy Communion Day is Saturday 13th June 2020 at 12pm

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. 

Please see below the Mass dates for the Spring and Summer terms.

Please see the poster below giving details of the Knock Shrine Devotions that are being held at St. Ambrose Church on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th Macrh. 

A warm welcome is extended to everyone.

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.

Well done Year 3  !!

THERE WILL BE NO TEAPOT TIME ON TUESDAY 3RD MARCH. IT WILL BE BACK ON AS NORMAL ON TUESDAY 10TH MARCH.

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'.

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