14 July 2023

Dear Parents and Carers

With just over a week to go until the end of the school year it is amazing how much has taken place this week and so much still to come!

Firstly, congratulations go to our Key Stage 2 children for their wonderful production of 'Matilda' this week. Children from across the key stage entertained us with their wonderful singing and dancing but the stars of the performance have to be the Year 6 children who really excelled. To see how the Year 6 children supported eachother and worked so cohesively both as a class and a friendship group was beyond words. We have received several emails and been approached by numerous parents who were equally as blown away by the performance as we were. What a wonderful way to end the year with your children having such a powerful and positive impact on the school community. Well done children! It is hard to believe that their performance was the result of just under four week's work! My thanks must also go to Mrs Freitas for masterminding the whole production and to all the staff who worked quietly in the background to make the production such a resounding success. My congratulations and thanks go to you all. It was fantastic!

To bring our school year to a close Fr Richard will be joining us to celebrate our Leavers’ Mass on Friday 21 July at 9.15 a.m. This will also be my final Mass at St Wulstan's along with Year 6 and we welcome as many parents and carers to join us as can. Weather permitting we hope to celebrate Mass outside and invite families to join us for tea and cakes afterwards and an opportunity say some farewells.

Year 6 Parents

This afternoon you will receive your child’s annual school report. For children in Years 1, 2 and 6 this will include the results of statutory testing - phonics for Year 1 and end of Key stage assessments for Years 2 and 6. Having read many of the children’s reports it is clear to see how hard they have all worked this year, and also how kind and caring our children are. Well done everyone. We don’t hold a formal Parents’ Evening in the summer term as parents receive the written report but if you do wish to discuss something further please contact me via the school office.

We were delighted to receive the Year 6  End of KS2 SATs results this week. All the children have worked so hard throughout their school career and especially in Year 6 as they approached this final assessment of their Primary School education. Every child has done their best showing great progress academically and as individuals, equipped and ready to move on. We are so proud of every child's success. In Reading 85% of children achieved Expected standard with 50% of these achieving Greater Depth. In Writing 92% achieved Expected standard with 31% of these achieving Greater Depth. In Mathematics 85% of children achieved Expected standard with 54% of these achieving Greater Depth. In Grammar, punctuation and spelling 88% of children achieved Expected standard with 54% achieving Greater Depth. These are extremely pleasing results and far exceed national averages in each area. Well done to every child in Year 6 and our gratitude to Mrs Freitas, Mrs Mound and Mrs Checketts who taught and supported the children throughout the year. We are extremely proud of you all.

Sports Day will be held on Tuesday 18 July 9.30-11.30am. The event will be held on the school playground and everyone is invited to join us. Please bring picnic blankets or chairs as the spectators area will be on the Bank overlooking the playground. We hope this will give everyone a very clear view of their children as they both wait to race and as they participate. There will be soft drinks, tea and coffee available to buy. Please check your child has all their school PE kit in school including their pumps or trainers. We are sure it will be a lovely morning and the children will have great fun.

I am delighted to confirm Mr G Whitcombe has been appointed for Year 3 during Mrs Tasker's maternity leave  and will take up post in September so teacher staffing is now complete. After school this Wednesday 3.30pm onwards there will the opportunity to come into school to meet your child's teacher for next year. This is just the opportunity to put the name to the face , say hello and to see their classroom. I am pleased to say Mr Whitcombe will be able to join us so present Year 2 parents will be able to meet him as well. We will dismiss the children as usual and once staff have handed over all children please find your way to their new room.

We are still in the recruitment process for teaching assistant support but below we confirm the staffing for next year.

It was lovely to welcome Mrs Brocklesby, Executive Principal from September, into school last week. Mrs Brocklesby met a few parents in the playground in the morning and met all the children in their classes. She is very much looking forward to starting in September and getting to know the whole school community.

This week in English, Year 1 have been looking at the story ‘The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch’. The children have made predictions about the story, written characters descriptions and have created diary entries. In maths they have been learning to tell the time. The children have been focussing on o’clock and half past and are all enjoying telling the time at different points during the day. They are especially pleased to now be able to say when it is playtime and lunchtime!  In our RE lessons we have been listening to the story of ‘The Call of the Disciples’ and have spent time acting out the story before retelling it in our words.  We have been using our creative skills to create lighthouses linked to our story focus. We have explored using batteries, bulbs and wires to create a circuit so that we could have a working light in our lighthouses. The children are still thoroughly enjoying our wonderful outdoor area. This week some of the children in Reception decided to make a band and perform for us, what a delight! Finally Reception and Year 1 were very excited to meet two of the Kidderminster Harriers players who very kindly brought the trophy in to school to show us. The children had lots of questions and were keen to tell them all about their football clubs.  

This week Year 3 have been buzzing from their experience on the stage and Miss Workman just wanted to say another huge well done to them all! In English, they have been writing acrostic poems about the Egyptians and in maths we have been trying hard at some challenging word problems. During PSHE, the children have also examined different scenarios and talked about how to keep themselves safe in different situations. In PE, the children have been practising for sports day and should now know which races they will be in for next week. Well done everyone!

Year 2 have had an extremely busy week! On Monday they were thrilled to be able to watch the Year 6 production of Matilda. Tuesday saw the children having their final cricket lesson and being lucky enough to meet some Kidderminster Harriers players. On Wednesday they summarised their learning so far on their History topic: the Great Fire of London. Thursday saw them writing prayers of the Faithful as part of their RE unit on Our Church and somehow they have  still managed to fit in time for their daily Maths and English!

Year 5 have had a great week and we are enjoying all the exciting things that the summer term brings! We loved taking part in the Year 6 play and enjoyed having the opportunity to get beach ready and sing ‘La Bamba’ one more time! We also really enjoyed meeting the Kidderminster Harriers players and couldn’t believe how heavy the cup was! They were really lovely, and we all even managed to get their autographs! They had some great advice on playing football, but also reminded us how important school and our learning is!

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend and look forward to seeing you on Monday

KE Savage

Principal