Dear Parents and Carers,

Highlights of this week

Wear Yellow for World Mental Health Day

The school was definitely a bright and sunny place yesterday as we celebrated World Mental Health Day by wearing yellow. Mrs Compton, suitably dressed in bright yellow dungarees, led a whole school assembly. She showed the children activities they can do to make themselves feel happy and she explained that all staff in school are here to listen and help if they have worries. The children have all made ‘hand-kites’ with yellow ribbons to keep at home.

Wear Yellow Day is organised by the charity YoungMinds that supports children’s mental health. If you would like to find out more about YoungMinds or make a donation, please visit their website on https://www.youngminds.org.uk/support-us/donate/

Parents’ Coffee Morning

It was lovely to see so many parents at the coffee morning today. Mrs Compton and Mrs Diver will be hosting coffee mornings regularly over the school year. If there is a topic that you would like them to discuss in these meetings, please email Mrs Compton on admin@st-elizabeths.richmond.sch.uk

RE and Catholic Life

Harvest Mass and Food Collection

On Thursday 17th October at 9:30am we will be having our Harvest Mass. Y5 will be leading the prayers and readings and Fr Peter Andrews will be celebrating Mass for us.

We always ask children to bring in donations of food for Harvest. These are used to decorate the hall as a reminder for the children to give thanks for all the food we have. The food is then donated to the Richmond Foodbank. Our Infant Choir will also give some of the food items to Greville House, our neighbouring care home, when they sing there on Friday 18th October.

Next week, children are encouraged to bring in items of food to put in the boxes in the school hall. A list of items of food that Richmond Foodbank currently require, can be found at https://richmond.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/

PTA Calendar Photographs

We couldn’t have asked for a better day for the photographs for the PTA calendar to be taken. Thank you to Mr Minen for taking these, and to Mrs Minen and Mrs Judycki for assisting. Information about how to order the calendars will be sent to you shortly.

Sports Update

This term, our Y5 and Y6 Hockey Club enjoyed a session with a visiting player coach from Teddington Hockey Club. The coach was very impressed with the standard of play and enthusiasm of the children. Teddington Hockey Club are offering free taster sessions; if your child is interested in hockey or your child would like to play a team sport, please find details below.

U8s and U6s Y3 Y2 Y1 (ages 4+): 9:00 -10:20 a.m. on Sunday
U10s Y5 and Y4 Girls: 10:20 -11:40 a.m. on Sunday and 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday
Boys Y5 and Y4: 9:00 -10:20 a.m. on Sunday and 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. on Monday
U12s Y6 and Y7 Boys: 10:20 -11:40 a.m. on Sunday and 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. on Monday
Girls Y6 and Y7: 9:00 -10:20 a.m. on Sunday and 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. on Monday

All abilities are welcome. Please visit: https://www.teddingtonhockey.club/ or contact thccoaching@gmail.com

Upcoming Events

Parents’ Meetings on Tuesday 15th and Thursday 17th October

Parents’ Meetings will be taking place on Tuesday 15th and Thursday 17th October. Each meeting is 10 minutes long and there will be staff on hand in the school hall to let you know where your child’s meeting will take place.

PTA Bingo Night on Wednesday 23rd October – Do come along!

Parents and children are warmly invited to Bingo Night on Wednesday 23rd October at 6:15pm. It promises to be a fun evening!

Please pre-book tickets for the event and pre-order food: https://st-elizabeth-s-school-richmond-pta.sumupstore.com/products

Please see the attached flyer with more information. We look forward to seeing you there!

St Elizabeth's Cyclists 2025!

The annual St Elizabeth's Cycle Ride group of parents and staff are meeting on Tuesday 22nd October for a social gathering and announcement of the destination for 2025!

If you are interested in joining the next cycle ride in May next year, please do come along to find out more. One thing is for sure, it is a fun group of parents, past and present, staff, and friends of St Elizabeth's community, with the aim to raise as many funds as possible for our school.

Date: Tuesday 22nd October 2024
Venue: The White Horse pub - Worple Way, Richmond
Time: 8pm (announcement of the 2025 cycle ride destination at 9pm!)

For any specific questions about the 2025 ride, please contact Remy Bosman on 07402 263 831. We look forward to seeing you there!

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

October

Tuesday 15th 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. Parent / teacher meetings
Wednesday 16th All day Borough Tag Rugby tournament (Y6 & Y5)
Thursday 17th 9:30 a.m. Harvest Mass
Thursday 17th 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. Parent / teacher meetings
Thursday 17th a.m. Last swimming lesson for Y6 & Y4
Friday 18th 3:30 p.m. Infant Choir singing at Greville House
Tuesday 22nd 6:30 p.m. Academy Trust meeting for parents – please see letter sent this week for details
Wednesday 23rd p.m. PTA Bingo 6:15pm
Friday 25th 3:15 p.m. Half term holiday begins

November

Monday 4th Children return after half-term break
Tuesday 5th Y6 World War 2 Day
Wednesday 6th Y2 visit to Richmond Museum

Attendance this week

Whole school attendance this week is 97.5%. Congratulations to Y3 for having the highest attendance with 99.7%, closely followed by Y5 with 99%.

Finally, if your child was absent from school on the day of the flu vaccination last week, please find attached a flyer with dates of catch up clinics in the local area.

Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Jane Hines