18 March 2022

Dear Parents and Carers

We hope everyone has had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend. It has been a particularly busy but very enjoyable week in school.

On Monday, the Year 4, 5 and 6 children had the opportunity to take part in a bellboating session on the canal in Stourport. This was a continuation of our school's approach to increase the number of opportunities our children receive to explore what their local area has to offer.  The children and adults had to navigate their way through a lock and along the canal towards Kidderminster in teams of ten and twelve, before turning the boats around to head back to Stourport. Teamwork, resilience and coordination where just some of the skills that the children were developing to successfully complete the session. Under the guidance of Andy Train an experienced guide, the children also discussed the environmental issues around single use plastics and pollution in our canals. The children were shocked to see that many takeaway trays, fast food cups and even a football had been thrown or blown in the water. The whole experience of seeing our town from a different viewpoint and exercising in the sunshine filled both the children and adults with enthusiasm and positivity, once they had fully recovered from the tiring sessions that they took part in. Thank you to all the parents and carers who accompanied the children and staff, its greatly appreciated.

This week, throughout the school we have celebrated and embraced Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)  to mark national Science week. The theme this year has been growth so as well as looking at this in terms of animals and plants, we have also explored personal growth. The children have listened to information delivered by speakers with varying STEM careers. On Monday, we welcomed Sean Tickle from Cyberguard Technologies who talked to the children about his role in protecting companies from cyber threats. On Tuesday, we welcomed Dr Martin Saunders the creator of Maths and Spelling Shed who talked to the children about app development and coding. On Thursday, we met Simon Gallagher from West Mercia Police who talked to the children about internet safety.  We finished the week with Adam Andrews a local marine biologist who talked to us about his work ranging from sea turtle conservation in Greece, marine migrations studies in Iceland and the extraction of archaeological DNA from tuna fish bones. We hope that through this we have inspired the children and shown them an array of opportunities in an ever-changing STEM driven world. My thanks to all our visitors and to Mrs Morgan who has organised this weeks events as Science Lead.

This week Year 5 took part in a tag rugby training sessions with Simon Gallagher from West Mercia Police in order to get ready for our upcoming tournament. It was a great morning and the children loved the opportunity to develop their teamwork skills. We are all looking forward to representing St. Wulstan's in a few weeks' time.

Next week Year 4 and Year 5 are participating in Bikeability week. Bikeability is a national cycle training programme that provides the children with the practical skills and understanding of how to ride safely on today's roads. We hope the children will grow in confidence and awareness and enjoy this skill for life.

Our Year 2 children had a wonderful trip to Harvington Hall on Tuesday. They enjoyed finding out about the priest holes that were designed by Saint Nicholas Owen to hide the priests from the Tudors. The children even went inside a hiding place in the library. Dressing up in armour and Tudor clothes was especially exciting and learning how to entertain with singing and dancing. They sang 'Lady Greensleaves' and danced a Pavane accompanied by a harp. The staff at Harvington were wonderful and a super day was had by all.

In R.E., the Year 6 children have been learning about the different types of poverty and why it exists today. They have also been thinking about their roles as disciples of Christ and what they can do to fight poverty. The children have decided to hold some fundraising events in school and the money raised will be to support refugees in Europe and fight poverty in the U.K. and worldwide. They have organised:

• Guess the name of the bunny? (Reception class and KS1 children) - £1 per entry
• Guess the name of the sheep? ( KS2 children) - £1 per entry
• Guess the number of sweets in the jar? (All children) - £1 per entry

The events will start on Monday 21 March and the winners will be drawn at Celebration Assembly on Friday 4 April.

As part of  the 'growth' theme for Science week, Reception Class have continued to keep an eye on the changes occurring to the caterpillars in their classroom. They have been busy planting beans and creating their own greenhouses. Reception class have also enjoyed taking part in some exciting science experiments including discovering 'dancing raisins'!!!

Spring is here in Year 3! As well as working hard in the classroom, they enjoyed their first sunny game of cricket outside this week with Miss Workman. The children were also pleased to see the bulbs they planted in the Autumn term have burst into a bright colourful display of flowers outside our classroom window.

Preparation will soon begin for our Year 3 pupils who will receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion this year. If your child is a baptized Catholic and you wish them to be prepared to receive the Sacraments please ensure you have completed and returned the commitment form sent out this week. On Tuesday 5 April at 3.45pm  we will be holding a meeting in Year 3 classroom for the parents of children who will be receiving the Sacrament of First Holy Communion in June. It is important at least one parent attends this meeting. If you have any queries please contact Mrs Hulbert or Mrs Freitas who are leading the First Holy Communion preparation. Thank you

Thank you to all parents and carers who responded so positively at Parents' Evening to concerns raised regarding their child's attendance. However, there are still several children whose attendance is presently below 90% which equates to at least 20 days absence. Regular attendance means your child can make the most of their education, improving their chances in adult life. It will also help your child's social skills, such as making and keeping friendships.  As all of our lessons are part of a sequence of learning, missing one or two days can mean it is difficult for your child to access the
learning through the rest of that week or has ‘gaps’ in skills and knowledge taught. Every child's attendance is tracked and monitored by our EWO, Education Welfare Officer, and a child's persistent absenteeism is raised as a concern. We will be monitoring every child’s attendance very closely this term and will contact you if we are still concerned. We are all too aware of the impact COVID has had on our children's lives and it is more important than ever that we work together to ensure their school experience continues to be the best it possibly can. Thank you for your support.

The school calendar has been updated with some key dates for the summer term. Please note the dates of statutory testing for Year 1, Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6. It is crucial that the children are in school every day in these weeks as testing dates are set by the DFE and cannot be altered. Year 2 statutory assessments are carried out through May and early June and again it is important that children attend daily to ensure they achieve to their full potential. They are all working so hard and deserve their chance to shine and enjoy their success.

Please remember if you ever have any concerns regarding your child, academic, social or emotional please speak to me or any member of the teaching staff so we can work together to solve them. If you are unable to see me at school or wish to arrange a meeting please contact me via email at secretary @wulsev.worcs.sch.uk or telephone 01299 877808.

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend

KE Savage

Principal