9 November 2019

 Dear Parents

I hope everyone enjoyed a lovely half term break as we come back refreshed and ready for a busy and exciting build up to Christmas. Please check the school website for updated dates, events and timings for this term. Thank you to everyone for ensuring your children returned to school after half term in full winter uniform. The children look so smart and this does have such a positive impact on their attitude in every aspect of their school life. So many visitors to our school comment on our children’s appearance, good manners and their happy disposition. They are a such a credit to themselves, their families and their school.

Thank you to all parents and carers who attended Parents Evening this week. We appreciate the time taken to complete feedback questionnaires and your extremely positive and constructive comments are very much valued. Thank you. We encourage you to look regularly at the school website and in particular under Class and Curriculum pages where you can see what your child is learning about this term with curriculum focus, Topic work and photographs of their experiences. Please remember if at any time you have concerns about any aspect of your child’s work, social or emotional issues please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or myself.

This week, as a whole school, we have focused our work and prayers on Remembrance. The children have shown great reverence and compassion in their learning. Today, we came together for a whole school assembly , sharing our poetry, prayers and reflections in front of a beautiful memorial created by the children’s poppies and observing a one minute silence. It was very humbling to witness. I have included a photograph of the children’s memorial at the end of the newsletter.

On Wednesday morning the Year 1 children went out to investigate “Nature’s Treasures” in our local area. To launch their new topic, “Splendid Skies”, the children went out in search of signs of seasonal change. The weather behaved perfectly for the time of year with sunshine breaking through clouds before turning grey and eventually starting to rain when they returned back at school. The children had a wonderful time taking digital photographs of dew on the grass, jumping in muddy puddles and collecting “natural treasures” to label at school. The adults that accompanied the children said how inquisitive they were and how wonderful it was to see the learning happening outside of the classroom. Thank you to the parents and friends who were able to join them.

Our next school Mass at church will be at 10.00am on Sunday 17 November .It would be lovely to see as many children as possible at this Mass as our children lead the singing. Many parishioners approached me after the last Mass speaking so highly and warmly of our children. They are the future of our church and they bring so much to our faith. We look forward to seeing many families, Catholic and non Catholic, as we celebrate our faith together.

An appeal goes out today for filled jam jars and chocolate bar donations. As a thank you, next Friday will be a ’ Non-uniform Day’ when the children can wear their own choice of clothes in return for a filled jam jar and a bar of chocolate. These two stalls are always popular with the children and through your generosity well stocked, so thank you in advance. The PTA have already put a considerable amount of work into the Christmas Fayre Thursday 28 November to ensure that it is a lovely family evening. If you feel you could offer help, before or during the night please contact a member of the committee or any member of staff. All help is gratefully received. The Fayre will open at 6.00pm and as well as many Christmas stalls, food and drink we will also have a varied programme of entertainment throughout the evening.

The Scholastic’ Half price’ book fair arrives on Monday 18 November and will be open before and after school from Monday afternoon. This is a good Christmas shopping opportunity as the books are popular and genuinely half price. A further bonus is the commission we earn to buy library books which the children choose. Please pop in and have a browse.

Just a long term date to put in your diaries! On Thursday 13 February our Year 5 children will be performing at Birmingham Town Hall along with children from Hagley Catholic High School and its feeder schools. This will be the 9^th annual concert at the Town Hall and they have been absolutely fantastic in previous years and this year’s concert I am sure will be equally good.  Ticket for this concert will soon be available and then in the new year further details will be sent out regarding a coach for parents on the evening. There is no limit to the number of tickets you can buy so please encourage family and friends to attend or buy as a Christmas present. I am sure parents in Year 6 would agree it is a really fabulous night out!

We anticipate great excitement in school next week as the children on the School Council lead in the  preparation of our ‘Christmas Tree' float which will lead our school in the ‘Three King’s Parade’ on Friday 22 November. It is hard to believe that this will begin life as a shopping trolley! With evergreen, lights, candles and vast amounts of imagination and enthusiasm it will be transformed into a glorious work of art representing the start of the Advent season. Please come and join us to walk through Stourport and watch as the town’s Christmas lights are turned on. This is a lovely traditional community event for all ages. We will be meeting  outside the Civic Hall carpark and would love to see you there. Timings will be in next week's newsletter.

On Thursday 14 November we will be holding our third Sacramental Preparation meeting for parents at 6.30pm. This is for all children in Year 3 who are preparing for Reconciliation and First Holy Communion and also for Year 6 children preparing for Confirmation. It is essential that at least one parent or carer attends these meetings and also that the Year 6 children also attend. The Year 6 meeting will take the form of a workshop where the children and parent will work together to research and decide on their chosen saint's name. If you are unable to attend please contact Mrs Freitas. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday.

Year 2 had a fabulous morning on Tuesday creating homes for weasels in our forest area. There are sure to be many happy weasels this winter, especially as they have been provided with food platters as well!

Thank you to all the parents, grandparents and parishioners who attended our Year 3 Class Mass this morning. As always it was a lovely Mass with the children reading and praying with great reverence. It was lovely to see many stay for coffee afterwards and our thanks to those who helped out serving refreshments. Next week Mass will be held in Year 2 and we welcome everyone to join us in the Year 2 classroom.

We were delghted to hear of one of our Year 4 children winning joint second place in a wildlife photographic competition. The photograph Luke took  of a bee on a flower is absolutely stunning showing the minute detail of its wings as well as the petals on the flowers. Well done Luke!

At Parents Evening this week a couple of KS1 parents mentioned the sporting games competition that the older children play with the younger children, so  I asked the  Year 6 Sports Crew if they would put together a short piece to explain. ' Thursday breaktimes, Oliver T , James, Chloe and Sienna have been doing a KS1 throwing competition and they're aiming to get the children more into sport and to help them. Whilst doing it, the younger children used their great listening skills and showed great determination. The winner of the term's competition  will be annonunced next week.' Year 6 Sports Crew.

Finally this week we are delighted to say that this week we have launched our new St Wulstan's Facebook page. There will be frequent postings sharing and celebrating the many activities that go on within the school day and beyond. We hope you enjoy seeing these postings as much as your children are enjoying their learning and experiences. To visit the page go to https://m.facebook.com/stwulstanscatholicprimary

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend.

KE Savage