17 February 2023

Dear Parents and Carers

After a busy seven weeks we break up today for Spring Half Term holiday. We hope everyone has an enjoyable week. We will return to school on Monday 27 February as we then journey through Lent towards Easter.

As you are no doubt aware there will be much disruption to schools across the country on Wednesday 1st March 2023, due to industrial action by members of the National Education Union. The industrial action is happening because of a national dispute between the unions and the government, and not because of any issues at our school. I can now confirm  the arrangements at St Wulstan's on Wednesday 1st March 2023.We aim to open as normal, however,  it may not be your child’s class teacher who is taking that class on Wednesday. School has worked extremely hard to remain open for all pupils, using the information we have from any members of the NEU we have in school. Parents Evening will be unaffected by any strike action. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The long awaited and much prepared for Emmaus Pyramid Concert finally arrived last Monday and it was fabulous! This year, Year 5 children from across the Hagley Pyramid of schools were celebrating 'Back to the 50s' and each school showcased one popular song before all joining together to sing several songs as one large choir. Our song was ' La Bamba' which the children sang beautifully. The evening could justifiably be described as spectacular and whilst we must admit to being slightly biased, we did feel that St Wulstan's children were notable by their beautiful singing, enthusiasm, smart appearance and exemplary behaviour! We would like to congratulate all the children and thank all the families and staff who went to the Town Hall to support our children. The children have worked exceptionally hard for this event under the guidance of Mr Fred Mallinson and Miss Mc Gowan. This is always a lovely opportunity to celebrate together and for the children to meet children from other Emmaus MAC schools who may one day become lifelong friends when they transfer to high school! Well done children - it was a night to remember for everyone!

One of the invited guests to the concert was Monsiegnor Timothy Menezes St Chad's Cathedral Dean wrote to all Principals the following morning. I would like to share this lovely comments with you.

I was privileged to attend the Pyramid Concert at Birmingham Town Hall some years ago. On that occasion, it was amazing to see the schools make such a public city venue your own. Yesterday, at Symphony Hall, bigger and better does not really do justice to what was achieved. The sheer joy and energy of all of the singers, the excellent behaviour, the pride each school took in its identity and uniqueness made for a very special evening.
The video presentations, ensuring that every child had a moment in the spotlight and their humour, were lovely. The bands and the dancers took to the stage with a confidence that was wonderful to see - no nerves despite the venue and the audience. So much credit must go to Mr Mallinson, to all of the staff, to the MAC Central team. An event like this does not just happen but it did come across as effortless. It was a real privilege to be at the Pyramid Concert 2023.

Miss McGowan This week Year 5 finally took part in their Pyramid Concert at Birmingham Symphony Hall. After months of hard work, Year 5 sang their hearts out and were absolute superstars. Despite their nerves, they performed brilliantly and enjoyed every second of a very busy and tiring day! It was wonderful to spend the time at such an amazing and iconic venue and it was lovely to see the children’s faces when they saw where it was they would be performing. Everyone at St Wulstan’s could not be more proud of you Year 5, you represented our school incredibly and it was such an amazing opportunity to have. A huge well done!

Thank you to Mr Dudley for creating our green screen image in school the following morning!

This week the book of the week in Reception Class has been 'Lost and Found'. The children have loved getting involved in lots of activities connected with the book and have produced some wonderful writing to describe the penguin on a Lost poster. 

Although Shrove Tuesday falls during half term holiday we didn't wish the children to miss out on a lovely treat that they always enjoy! A massive thank you to our mums who came into school this morning to serve pancakes to the children. There was great excitement the children really enjoyed them. Thank you also to Tesco who kindly donated all of the toppings free of charge and to Mrs Roden for organising this. All monies raised will go to funds now for extras for the children. More news regarding our projects will be shared soon. 

Year 3 had a lovely start to the week sharing their Iron Man models with Year 1 and Reception. The children were able to talk confidently about their design and identified the strengths and areas for development with their model. We also began to look at types of shading used in sketching and how we can use different techniques to give the illusion of an object's texture. 

This week the Year 6 children have been writing in character as a Victorian child (Jim Jarvis) being sent to live in a workhouse. In their diary entries they have also described some of the appalling conditions of Victorian London and the deprivation suffered by those who lived in abject poverty and danger. The children are looking forward to sharing their writing with your on parents' evening.

Year 4 completed their water safety lessons this afternoon in our final swimming lesson. Over the course of the two lessons, children have been taught individual self-rescue techniques and recognised the importance of these and how to keep themselves and others safe if they encountered a problem on a boat. The children had great fun learning these techniques but also ensured they listened carefully and carried out them out correctly. Well done!

These Year 3 and Year 4 children enjoyed playing football this evening against four other schools. Great teamwork, effort and resilience was shown throughout. Well done! ⚽️

To conclude our topic on castles, Year  2 spent Tuesday learning all about life in a castle, we learnt all about people who lived and worked in castles, had our very own banquet and learnt a medieval dance. We were lucky that lots of our parents, carers and younger siblings were able to join us in the afternoon, the children were then able to share their learning and teach everyone the dance. What a wonderful way to end this half term!

This half term are Reception and Year 1 have been learning all about Dreams and Goals in our PSHE lessons. In our final lesson the children decorated their own dream jars. The children put so much thought into their dreams and decorated them beautifully! What a lovely way to end the half term.

School Lunches - change to ordering system. From 13.3.23, lunches won't be ordered on Parentpay but on a different system, more details to follow shortly. Please only order lunches on Parentpay for the first two weeks following half term. Lunches required for the first week of term (27.2.23) need to be placed on Parentpay before this Sunday.

Your child will have brought home a letter yesterday explaining how to register . Please note that with the new system, parents and carers don't have to order a week in advance but can order, amend or cancel a lunch on a specific day. If A child is absent and has a lunch ordered with the new systemit is parent/carers responsibility to cancel the lunch before9 am that day. Thank you for your support and if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Brown.

Spring Parents Evening will be held on Tuesday 28 February and Wednesday 1 March. On Tuesday 28 February, there will be face to face meetings in school between 4:00 and 7:00pm. On Wednesday 1 March there will be face to face meetings in school from 4:30-5:30pm followed by virtual meetings from 6:00-7:00pm. From parent feedback continuing this hybrid system should address everyone's choices . For this to run smoothly and equitably it is essential that all parents adhere to the 10 minute allocated time slot. The signing up system is now live and an instruction guide on how to access it and book your appointments can be found below. SchoolCloud - St Wulstan's Catholic Primary School

After half term, on Thursday 2nd March, we will be celebrating World Book Day as a whole school. This is always a lovely opportunity to celebrate reading for pleasure and the staff have worked hard to plan some lovely activities based around a class text. You should have received a letter with information regarding costumes for your child's class. Please contact your child's class teacher if you have any questions about costumes. More than ever, we have tried to consider cost and waste when planning this event so please do not feel that we expect shop-bought or very elaborate costumes on the day! We are sure that the children will enjoy the event, as always. 
 
During the week of World Book Week, the Scholastic Book Fair will be running in the hall before and after school each day. Children will also have the opportunity to visit the fair during the school day. Purchases made at the fair earn free books for school and has helped us buy some lovely texts for the children to enjoy. The fair will hopefully arrive before the end of the day on Monday 27th February, but a message will be sent out when it arrives to confirm that the fair has opened. Don't forget that the £1 World Book Day tokens given out that week can also be spent at the fair! 

A reminder that next year's term dates are now published on the school website as we are aware families will be booking holidays. Please also note that after Easter we will be entering the period of Statutory Assessment when all children sitting these tests must be in school. The Department of Education set these dates and cannot be altered by schools.

Year 6 KS2 SATs will take place week commencing 8 May. Monday is a Bank Holiday so tests are on Tuesday , Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of that week.

Year 1 Phonics Screening will take place week commencing 12 June 2023

Year 4 Multiplication Tests will take place week commencing 5 June and week commencing 16 June

Year 2 will also undertake teacher led assessments during May and June 2023

It is crucial that all children in Year 1, Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6 are in school for these dates.

After half term Mrs Tasker will be returning to school for the Spring 2 term. At Easter Mrs Tasker will then commence her maternity leave as she and Mr Tasker look forward to welcoming their second baby in the summer. Mrs Tasker will work across the school next term supporting children in all year groups. We are very much looking forward to our 'Poetry and Pastry' morning led by Mrs Tasker on Tuesday 14th March at 8.50am. We look forward to seeing many of you there.

We hope you have a lovely half term break with your children and look forward to seeing you on our return to school on Monday 27 February. Thank you for all your ongoing support, it is greatly appreciated by all the staff.

KE Savage

Principal

Emmaus CMAC
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