Dear Parents and Carers,

Happy New Year! We hope you all had a lovely Christmas. The children have made a great start to the Spring Term, ready to learn and enjoying being together.

As always we have a busy term ahead. You will have received the Calendar of Dates for this term in a separate ParentMail today. More details of the individual events will be sent out to you ahead of time and we always include a reminder of upcoming events at the end of our weekly updates.

Please do read to the end of this email. There is a lot of information included here and of course at the end you will see our first Values Award winners of 2024!

This Week in school

Assemblies this week

This week in our assemblies we have been learning about the feast of the Epiphany when the three wise men visited Jesus with their gifts. The children learnt the significance of each gift and also shared how the Epiphany is celebrated in the different cultures and communities in our school.

Next Week in school

School clubs

The Spring Term extra-curricular clubs begin next week and run until 22nd March. NSSport wrap-around care runs every day from 3:15pm to 6pm and is open for children in all classes on an ad hoc basis. Jenny and her team organise a variety of activities for the children each day and provide them with a meal and snacks. Please click on this link for more details about NSSport: https://www.st-elizabeths.richmond.sch.uk/page/?title=Wrap+Around+Provision&pid=74

Piano Concert

There will be a Piano Concert at 3:30pm on Wednesday 17th January in the school hall. All children who can play a piece on the piano are welcome to perform and parents and families are invited to attend. The children just need to let Mrs FitzGerald know the name of the piece they intend to play and make sure they have their music with them.

Y4 Assembly

The Y4 children will be leading an assembly on Thursday 18th January at 9:10am. Parents are welcome to attend.

Y3 and Y6 visit to Richmond Synagogue

On Friday 19th January the Y3 and Y6 children will be visiting Richmond Synagogue. This is a unique experience for the children to see about the different artefacts in the synagogue, including the Torah, and builds on their study of Judaism last term. We are still looking for a number of parents from these classes to accompany this visit and we would love to hear from you if you are available.

Application Deadline for places in Reception 2024

Please note that the application date for places in Reception 2024 is Monday 15th January. Applications to St Elizabeth’s are warmly welcomed. Parents wishing to apply under the faith criterion should ensure that they have submitted their child’s certificate of baptism and given the Supplementary Information Form (SIF) to their parish priest. All applicants must also make an online application through their home council website.

Information for Parents

Free Universal Meals

Good news to share! It has been announced by the Mayor of London that the Free Universal Meal provision will continue for another year. This means that all children in state-maintained primary schools will be entitled to a free school meal until July 2025.

St Elizabeth’s Admissions Consultation

St Elizabeth’s is currently consulting on our Admissions Procedures for 2025/26. Please see the email sent before Christmas for a summary of the changes and a draft of the new Admissions Procedures. The consultation period, by which you are invited to respond, closes on 23rd January 2024.

Achieving for Children (AFC) Richmond Wrap-around Care Survey

AfC Richmond are looking at wrap-around care provision and future needs across the borough. They have asked parents of primary age children to complete the survey which can be found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdKlFKzL6vBJzS1T_IAb9FUfc4RagzEmZUKVoHaNB_dJ9kMig/viewform

Mental Health Support Team webinar

The Mental Health Support Team (MHST) are holding a webinar which is open to all parents in our school to attend on ‘Helping Children with Screen Time’. We know that managing screen use can be of concern to parents of children of all ages and this webinar will provide good tips and practical advice. The MHST webinars are highly recommended by parents who have attended them previously. Please see the flier attached.

School Attendance information

You may be aware of the priority that the Department of Education is currently giving to school attendance. This link from the Education Hub provides parents with information about the importance of good attendance and shares data about the impact of high absence. Link: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/01/03/improving-school-attendance/

Attendance at St Elizabeth’s is high as seen in the attendance figures which we publish each week. Thank you for ensuring that your child is in school every day and for the value you place on your child’s education. If you are unsure if your child is well enough to attend school, please contact the school office who will be able to advise. Please too, ensure that you child is in school by 8:55am every morning or earlier if possible so they get the very best start to their school day.

Can you help?

We are looking for someone with brick laying skills to help us fix the ‘Sponsor a Brick’ with family names on to the school wall. We would love to hear from you if you or someone you know could help.

Upcoming dates

Monday 15th January Spring Term Clubs begin

Monday 15th January All day Borough Sportshall Athletics Finals

Wednesday 17th January 3:30 p.m. Piano Concert – parents welcome

Thursday 18th January at 9:10 a.m Assembly led by Y4 – parents invited

Friday 19th January morning EV Y6 & Y3 visit Richmond Synagogue

Wednesday 24th January All day EV Y6, Y5 & Y4 Explorer Dome in School Hall

Thursday 25th January morning Y2 Scooter Training

Thursday 25th January at 3:15 p.m. Tag Rugby match v St Stephens (away)

Friday 26th January at 9:00 a.m. PTA meeting in school

Friday 2nd Feb evening PTA Ceilidh – family event in the school hall

Advanced notice for Y6 parents:

Cycling proficiency will be taking place in the week of 5th February. Your child will need to be able to ride a bike with confidence and will need to bring in a bike to use during the week. If you do not have a bike or if you have other queries about cycling proficiency, please contact Mrs van den Driessche. Forms for parents to complete and return have been sent home today.

Attendance this week

Whole school attendance this week is 94.47%. Congratulations to Y3 for having the highest attendance at 99.67%, closely followed by Y5 with 98.62% attendance.

Values Awards

Congratulations to the following children who have received a Values Award this week.

Reception Lydia

Y1 Richard

Y2 Elliott

Y3 Ian

Y4 Kate

Y5 Colton

Y6 Emma

Million Word Readers

Congratulations to Eddie and Ivor in Y3 and Arietta in Y4 who have read an amazing 1 million words, and to Arthur in Y5 who has read an incredible 5 million words!

Reading Cup

Congratulations to Y4 and Miss McCrossan who are the winners of the Reading Cup! Well done!

Finally, please find attached a flier with an opportunity for a girls taster session and free entry to a match from Rosslyn Park RFC.

Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Jane Hines