Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you all had an enjoyable half-term holiday.  It was lovely to see the children return on Monday and settle straight back into work and play!

This week in school

Orchestral Concert

Congratulations to all the children who took part in the orchestral concert yesterday afternoon.  There was a great variety of amazing solo performances as well as a number of ensemble pieces from the school orchestra.  Thank you to Mrs FitzGerald for accompanying our young musicians on the piano and to Mrs Christiensen, our violin teacher for preparing the violinists.

Sports update from Mr Sagar and Mrs Knowles

The Y5/6 boys signed off their football league season this week with a strong performance against The Russell School. After a faltering start, they were quickly two goals down, but with some wonderful passing and fine finishing, the boys were 3-2 up at half time. During the second half, there was some more excellent team work and, whilst they didn't hold onto the win, it was a good performance to finish on. Noah was voted player of the match for his hat-trick and there was a strong performance from Jack.  Well done, boys!

Next week in school

Ash Wednesday Service – Wednesday 5^th March at 1:30pm

Parents and carers are invited to join us as we mark the start of our Lent journey in our Service of Ashes on Wednesday.  Mgr. Bill will be leading the service and our Y6 pupils are preparing the readings and prayers. 

There are a number of ways that we will be marking Lent in school.  Please read the RE newsletter for more information.

Class Concerts for Reception, Y1 and Y2

Next week there will be class concerts for our KS1 classes – see dates below.  These concerts are opportunities for the children to showcase the songs they have been learning in their Music lessons in front of an audience of parents.   The concerts last approximately 30 minutes.  The Y1 concert will be proceeded by a parent information session on the Phonics Screening test.

Y6 SATS and PGL visit meeting - Tuesday 4^th March at 9 a.m.

All Y6 parents are invited to attend a meeting on Tuesday morning to find out about the Y6 SATS tests this year and the residential visit to PGL in Dorset.  The meeting should last around 45 minutes and we will send the slides home to parents following the meeting.

Cycling Proficiency for Y6

A reminder that Y6 children will be taking part in cycling proficiency next week.  Please see the recent emails for information and to complete the online consent form.

To our Y5 parents, it will be your child’s turn this time next year.  It is a good time to start practising those cycling skills now, so that your child will be ready with the necessary bike skills and confidence.

Safer Walking for Y3 children

The Richmond Borough Safety team will be in school next week teaching our Y3 children how to cross roads safely and how to use the pedestrian crossing.  Please do talk to your Y3 child about these sessions to reinforce the messages they are given.

For parents of our older children, especially those who come to school on their own, this is a good time to remind your children that they must always use the pedestrian crossing and they must be vigilant when crossing roads.  Queen’s Road is very busy and children’s safety is of paramount importance.

Notices for Parents

School Chapel – can you help?

We are looking for artistic and creative parents who can help us to design and create our school chapel in our upstairs classroom.  If you would like to be involved, we would love to hear from you. Please email the school office with the subject heading: school chapel, letting us know your name, child’s name and availability.  We will get back to you shortly.

Payment for educational visits, clubs and swimming

May we remind parents to make payments for educational visits, clubs and swimming lessons on Arbor Pay.  We are still waiting for a significant number of payments which may prevent activities from going ahead.  Thank you for your support.

Upcoming Events

MARCH

3rd  a.m. all week  Y6 Cycling Proficiency

3rd  p.m.  Y3 Safe Walking with Richmond Safety Team

4th  9:00 a.m.  Y6 Parents’ Meeting: SATs & PGL residential visit

5th  1:30pm  Ash Wednesday Liturgy prepared by Y6 – parents invited

6th  9:00 a.m.  Y1 Phonics workshop and Class Concert – parents invited

6th  9:30 – 10:15 a.m.  World Book Day: Y5 and Y6 Quiz online

6th  2:30 p.m.  Y2 Class Concert – parents invited

7th  9:00 a.m.  Reception Class Concert – parents invited

10^th – 14^th  Book & Arts Week for all classes

11th  All day  Author visit: Zoe Antoniades

14^th  a.m.  Book Character Day – children come to school dressed as a book character

18^th  a.m.  Y6 Junior Citizen

19^th  All day  Y3 visit to Chiltern Open Air Museum

19^th to 21^st  All day  Y5 residential to Sayers Croft

Values Awards

Congratulations to the following children for being noticed living our School Values this week.

Reception - Max

Y1 - Sebastian

Y2 - Max

Y3 - Elise

Y4 - Presley

Y5 - Millie

Y6 - Alexa

Million Word Readers

Congratulations to Naia and Eddie in Y4 for reading 5 million words!  Such a fantastic achievement!

Reading Cup

Congratulations to Mrs Sheridan, Mrs Frosdick and Y3, who had the most completed challenges and are the winners of the Reading Cup for the last half term. 

Attendance and Punctuality this week

Medical appointments

We ask that routine medical and dental appointments are made outside of the school day where possible.  We are only able to authorise medical appointments which take place within the school day when we are provided with a record of the appointment.  Please bring a copy of your appointment confirmation to the school office when you collect your child, or email this to the school office address admin@st-elizabeths.richmond.sch.uk

Congratulations to Y6 for having the highest attendance this week with 100%! This is closely followed by Y4 with 99.24%.

It has been an excellent week for punctuality.  Well done to Y4 and Y5 for having highest punctuality, very closely followed by Y6.

Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Jane Hines and the staff of St Elizabeth’s