Dear Parents and Carers,

We have been pleased to see so many of you at the Parents’ Class Information Sessions this week. We are fortunate to have parents and carers who are so supportive of their children’s education and well-being, and also of the wider life of the school. We hope these sessions are helpful to you and we look forward to our KS1 Class Information Sessions next week. The slides used in the presentations will be sent out via Arbor email shortly.

Smart-phone free school

In the Class Information Sessions, we shared that we have made the decision to become a smart-phone free school. This means that our oldest children in Y6, who travel to school independently, will only be allowed to bring a non-internet enabled phone to school.

We have made this decision in order to remove the pressure that children feel to use social media in the primary years, and this change will be much easier with all of your support. We therefore ask that parents do not give their child a smart-phone or allow them to use social media apps, such as Snapchat, WhatsApp or Tik Tok, all of which have age ratings of 13+, while they are at St Elizabeth’s. We believe that your children will be happier and safer by doing this and this will also give you greater control over what your child is exposed to at this young age. It has been pleasing to see the positive response of parents to this action in our meetings this week. Thank you for your support.

Pupil Parliament

Linked to the topic of smart-phones, this week our Y6 pupils have been taking part in an election to select our school’s representatives in the Richmond Borough Pupil Parliament. The children were asked to prepare speeches on whether children should be prevented from having smart-phones until they are 14 years old. They made their speeches in front of their class and then to the whole of KS2 in assembly today. After a very close vote, our two Pupil Parliament Representatives for this year are Colton and Naomi. Congratulations to our new reps and to all the children who put themselves forward and spoke so well.

Piano Concert

It was also lovely to see so many children performing at the piano concert on Wednesday afternoon, the first of many opportunities for children to showcase their musical skills over the year. It was great to see so much talent on display – well done everyone!

RE and Catholic Life

Gospel 'Celebration of the Word' Assembly

In this week’s Gospel assembly, the children reflected on Jesus’ call to follow him (Mark 8:22-35). Jesus told His disciples that they could live a new life with God at the centre. He also said that to truly live we must make personal sacrifices and put others first and that Jesus would be with us every step of the way. The children were invited to consider how they will say yes to God’s plans by putting others first.

Pupil Chaplains’ Cake Sale for Macmillan Cancer Support on Wednesday Next Week

Our Pupil Chaplains are organising a cake sale after school on Wednesday 25th September to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. The cake sale will be in both KS1 and KS2 playgrounds. Macmillan Cancer Support uses money raised to support people and their families living with cancer. Please would parents and children buy a cake on Wednesday to support this worthy charity? The Chaplains are aiming to raise as much money as they can for this important charity. Thank you.

A message from Mrs Compton – Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator SENCO

Thank you to all the parents who came to our APDR (Assess, Plan, Do, Review) meetings over the last week. If your child receives SEN support in school, their learning plans have been emailed to you today. We are very grateful for your support.

A message from the PTA

The PTA Pre-loved school uniform sale raised £910.72. Thank you to those who donated uniform, and thank you to Louise McElroy for organising it. Our pre-loved school uniform sales are always well received by many.

A message from the Nursery

We are fortunate that we are able to use the nursery playground at drop off and pick up times. We would like to remind parents and carers however that children must not play on or use the nursery equipment at these times. The school and nursery equipment is for use under supervision during the school day only. Miss Delia has also asked us to remind parents not to give children snacks in the nursery playground which can cause litter and bring allergens into the environment.

Reminder message sent in last week’s Weekly Update

Please note also that children may only have a fruit snack before their club starts, not crisps, sweets or biscuits. We are a nut free school and must be very careful to protect the children in our school with allergies. Please do not give children snacks on the school grounds after school. Thank you for your co-operation.

Information for Parents

Reception places in September 2025

The application window for Reception places for September 2025 is now open and the closing date is January 15th 2025. If you or someone you know, is interested in a place at St Elizabeth’s, please encourage them to visit the Admissions page on our website where you will find information about the application process and school tours. We warmly welcome applications from Catholic families and from those of other faiths or no faith.

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

September

Monday 23rd 9:00 – 9:30 a.m. Y2 Class Information for Parents Session
Tuesday 24th 9:00 – 9:45 a.m. Reception Class Information for Parents Session
Wednesday 25th 9:00 – 9:30 a.m. Y1 Class Information for Parents Session
Wednesday 25th 3:15 – 3:45 p.m. Y6 Pupil Chaplains’ cake sale for Macmillan Cancer Support
Friday 27th afternoon Whole class clarinet lessons start for Y4 pupils
Friday 27th 2.00 p.m. Mass for beginning of School Year

October

Thursday 3rd a.m. Reception to Y6: Nasal Flu Immunisation
Thursday 3rd All day National Poetry Day
Friday 4th All day CAFOD Harvest Day – please bring a small donation to school for CAFOD
Thursday 10th All day ‘Children’s Mental Health Wear Yellow Day’
Friday 11th 9:00 a.m. Parents’ Coffee Morning
Tuesday 15th 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. Parent / teacher meetings
Wednesday 16th All day Borough Tag Rugby tournament (Y6 & Y5)
Thursday 17th 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. Parent / teacher meetings
Thursday 17th a.m. Last swimming lesson for Y6 & Y4

Attendance this week

Whole school attendance this week is 98.52%. Congratulations to Y4 for having the highest attendance this week with 100%! This is closely followed by Y5 which has 99.68% attendance.

Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Jane Hines