It has been wonderful to have everyone back at school and the children are looking very smart in their summer uniforms; fingers crossed the warmer weather will pick up again! With regard to uniform could you please ensure that your child wears sensible shoes and his/her hair is tied up (if long). Please make sure all items of clothing are named.
As soon as we have further guidance from the Department of Education I will let you know when changes can be made either to the school day (arrival and collection times) and hopefully the opportunity to come into school for some small events, such as a class prayer service.

We are extremely proud of how hard ALL pupils have worked in school this week. On Tuesday morning, in our whole school virtual celebration assembly, the following children will be receiving a certificate for their fantastic efforts:

Our new virtues for this half term are compassionate and loving. We are compassionate when we feel sympathy and concern for other people who are in difficulty, whether they are near to us or far away. Loving: We are loving when we show our sympathy and concern for other people by our actions and by our words. Please let Miss Holtom know if your child demonstrates these virtues at home (year6@st-ambrose.worcs.sch.uk) as we would love to reward them for this in our end of term celebration!

We currently have a vacancy for one parent academy representative and are seeking nominations for an enthusiastic and committed parent or carer to join the academy committee.

Letters were distributed to children yesterday and you can also access the letter on the news section of the school website or click the pdf link below.

Please can we ask that you read and return the letter with any nominations by no later than miday on Friday 14th May.

This week, our pupils thought carefully about our heroes who have shown compassion and love to other during the pandemic. They were challenged to take part in a 'Heroes Stamp Design' competition as a way of honouring the key worker and volunteer heroes of the coronavirus pandemic on stamps.

We asked our young designers to think about who their hero or heroes are, and to design a stamp in their honour. A special panel of judges will pick the winning designs. The final eight stamps will be sent to Her Majesty The Queen before they can be printed and issued. 

Because we were so impressed with the quality of the designs, we asked our Chair of Governors to choose a winner and runner up  from each class and they will be receiving a prize in celebration assembly on Tuesday. The winners were:

Year 6 spent time hot-seating doubting Thomas on Tuesday and asked him different and challenging questions about how he felt after Jesus died, why he doubted and how he felt after seeing the risen Jesus. After, we then found and discussed evidence in the Bible from Matthew's gospel which shows that the disciples were told He was going to die and would rise again three days later. We then held a class debate about whether he was right or wrong to doubt - some of us even changed ours minds after the session!

The photographer will be in school on Friday 7th May to take class group photos and Year 6 leavers photos.

Lilli-Rose in Year 5 will be performing at the Repertory Theatre in Birmingham in Cinderella.

Sir David Bintley's enchanting fairytale is a glorious celebration of ballet, with breathtaking scenery and costumes by John Macfalane, the designer of Birmingham Royal Ballet's famous Nutcracker, and Prokofiev's beautiful music, played by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.

We are really proud of Lilli-Rose for getting the part of the Young Cinderella and can't wait to hear all about her training.

Thank you to all of the parents who have signed their child up to one of the after school sports clubs. We still have places available on our cricket club for years 4, 5 and 6. Please help support the school to continue to offer extra curricular clubs by signing your child up to cricket. Many thanks.

We are very hopeful that as a community, we will be able to offer our Year 3 pupils the opportunity to prepare for and to receive the Sacrament of First Holy Communion this term. This Sacrament focusses on the Eucharist which nourishes our faith.

All being well, this year, First Holy Communion will be celebrated on Saturday 26th June at 12.00 pm, slightly later than usual in the hope that further restrictions may be lifted so more of our family members can be part of the day.

Father Lamb will be holding a Zoom Information Parents session outlining the importance of this sacrament and the role you play in supporting your child to be a practising Catholic. He will also stress the importance of your committment and support of this programme of preparation. Details of the date and time of Father Lamb's session will be given our nearer the time.

This year, due to COV-ID restrictions, preparations will take place in school with Miss Ballard, Ms Baylie, Miss Holtom and Mrs Brocklesby and the programme book 'Jesus Come To Me' can be purchased from school for £8. This book can be paid for via ParentPay and lessons will begin on Friday 7th May 2021.

We are very much looking forward to helping support your child with this important moment in their lives.

The orthoptic team will be visiting school on Friday 7th May to offer eye tests to all children in Reception.

All children whose parents/carers have not declined consent for this test will be screened in school.

The orthoptist will test the childrens' eyes to be sure they are seeing properly and that the eyes are working together as they should.

A letter will be sent home to all parents with the results of the test. There will be a contact number on this letter for any queries.

As St Richard's feast day was during the Easter holidays, we are going to be celebrating it as a whole school on Thursday 6th May. Please send your child to school wearing something green on this day.

Thank you for joining us for our parents Zoom information sessions with Miss Holtom. It was really useful to receive feedback and we will continue to keep you updated with our programme of study.  

Please remember to use the online parent platform so that you can engage with the teaching and deepen the experience for your child. To access the online parent platform please visit: www.tentenresources.co.uk/parent-portal

School Username: st-ambrose-dy10

School Password: custard-111

A short document that will help to give you an overview of the structure and content of the programme can be viewed below.

Today your child has come home with a letter and a tube of smarties. Our Teacher and Parent Partnership (TAPP) Team have proposed a fundraising idea with the smarties challenge. The letter can be viewed below.

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 follow the link below to access this week's Wednesday Word.

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