Dear Parents and Carers,

Today’s Christmas Morning was a great success! Thank you very much to the fantastic team of Y1 parents for organising this event and to all of our parents who contributed in so many ways: cooking, baking, making hampers, donating prizes and running stalls on the day.  Thank you too, to all the classes who brought a little early Christmas cheer with their carol singing this morning and to Mrs FitzGerald for preparing the children. 

This week in school

Y4 Roman Day

The Y4 children looked a little different as they arrived in school on Thursday dressed in tunics and togas.  As part of their ‘Roman Day’ they made replicas of Roman shields and learnt some of the manoeuvres of the Roman army.  They also had a go at ‘Roman’ cooking, making pizzas which they shared with parents at the end of the day!

Y5 Local Area Walk

Y5 carried out a field study walk around Richmond this week to support their learning in Geography. While enjoying some sunshine, they investigated the attractions that were available in our local area for visitors, including what transport is available, and any other points of interest.

Sports Update from Mr Sagar and Mrs Knowles

The Y6 Sports Committee led an assembly on Tuesday this week. They introduced themselves to the school and we learnt of the sports they enjoy playing outside of school. They explained their roles and responsibilities, including helping to promote the profile of sport around school and they encouraged the children to join a sports club.

This term we are introducing the ‘Sports Values Award’ to complement the existing school values.  This will be awarded weekly to children who demonstrate living sporting values in lessons, at playtime and in sports fixtures. 

The first recipient of this award is Richie in Y2.  Well done, Richie!

Next week in school

The Season of Advent in school

Service of Reconciliation

The season of Advent begins this Sunday.  This is the four week period of preparation before we celebrate Jesus’s birth at Christmas.  In school the children learn that Advent is a solemn time of prayer and reflection that comes before the excitement of the Christmas season. We encourage them to pray and carry out acts of kindness during this time.  On Tuesday 3^rd December our Y4 children will be leading our KS2 Advent Service of Reconciliation.  This will be followed by an opportunity for the children in Y4 to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). Our older classes will be invited to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Lent.

PTA Christmas Disco

Our Christmas discos are taking place on Friday 6^th December.  The KS1 disco is held in the afternoon with staff as DJs, and the KS2 disco is from 6-8pm with DJ Stuart.  Details of how to buy tickets and make payment have been emailed to you in a separate email. These are always fun events for the children, made extra special by a visit from Santa himself!

Information for Parents

The last few weeks of the term are very busy in school so please look out for the emails which have been sent out with details of the following events.  Payments for events can be made through Arbor Pay or by cheque or cash in the school office.  Thank you very much for your contributions which allow us to give the children such wonderful memories.

Upcoming dates – please do check these each week as new dates are added

December

Tuesday 3^rd  KS2 Advent Reconciliation Service – children only

Thursday 5^th  KS1 Nativity dress rehearsal

Friday 6^th 2-3pm  KS1 Disco

Friday 6^th 6pm – 8pm  KS2 Disco

Tuesday 10^th  Y4 to Y6 visit to the Rose Theatre

Wednesday 11^th 9:30 am  Reception ‘Carols around the Tree’

Wednesday 11^th  Reception to Y3 theatre performance in the school hall

Thursday 12^th 7pm  KS2 Advent Service in the school hall

Friday 13^th 9:30am  KS1 Nativity

Monday 16^th  Schola singing at St Winefride’s Parish Evening Advent Service

Tuesday 17^th  Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper Day

Thursday 19^th 11am  Advent Mass

Friday 20^th 2pm  End of Term

Attendance this week

Whole school attendance this week is 98%.  Congratulations to Y6 for having the highest attendance this week with 100%!  This is closely followed by Y3 with 98.4%.

Wishing you all, and especially our Scottish families celebrating St Andrew’s Day tomorrow, a lovely weekend,

Jane Hines and the staff of St Elizabeth’s