19 October 2018

Dear Parents

It was lovely to welcome Mrs Nikki Davies to school for Monday’s Assembly. Nikki works tirelessly, raising funds and promoting the Sunny Trust of the Garo Hills in India. Nikki explained to the children how the final amount of £280 they recently raised, would be spent on enhancing the lives of the children in Fr Sunny’s community ; improving both health and education. We look forward to seeing Fr Sunny when he next visits the parish.                                                                       

I am sure everyone has now seen the new sports and activity markings in the playground. They include a full sized netball court, basketball court, snakes and ladders, number lines, activity paths and ‘copy me’ tracks. These new activities are already proving very popular with the children engaging them in fun and competitive physical activity at playtimes. The new zoning barriers have also allowing the children to experience a broader range of play time activities ensuring playtime is much more enjoyable and stimulating. There are still some other activities to add which we hope can be purchased with funds raised by the PTA this year. Although school was able to finance the markings, to further enhance the playground we are appealing to all families to help by supporting the many PTA activities planned for the children this year. Thank you as always for your support.

Our next ever popular PTA children’s cake sale will restart this term. The first will be held this Tuesday 23 October. This term, letters will be sent out requesting donations from Year 5 and Year 6. Thank you in advance. If you would like your child to buy a cake please send them with 30p on Tuesday morning.

On Thursday 25 October the day before we break up for the half term holiday the PTA of St Wulstan’s are holding a ‘Glow Disco’ for all children from 6.00 – 7.30pm priced at £2 per child or £5 for a family of 3 or more. The children are invited to dress up ‘brightly’, look out for posters in the playground for more details. As always, parents of younger children are very welcome to stay. Can I just remind parents that only children who are pupils of our school are able to attend these events. Thank you.

Many congratulations to all our children who participated in a local dance show at Stourport Civic last weekend. I understand it was a really enjoyable and successful experience, though very tiring! Well done everyone, your photograph shows you had a great time!

Well done to all our enthusiastic footballers who over the last four Wednesdays have competed in the Stourport Schools Partnership league. Our teams from KS2 have participated competitively and with great sportsmanship, both admirable qualities. Thank you to Mr Tasker and to the many parents who have attended and supported the children. Our photo gallery again shows their enjoyment.

Congratulations also to our Year 5 and Year 6 Cross country runners who achieved great success competing against other Stourport schools. Oliver B Year 5 came 1st out of all Year 5 boys and William K came 2nd with Elliot H 6th out of all Year 6 boys. A terrific achievement boys, well done!

This morning I joined Year 5 for a beautiful class Mass. As ever, the children read with great reverence and respect, such a lovely personal Mass for the children, parents and families. Our next class Mass is Year 4 on Friday 26 October. Everyone is welcome to come to Mass and join us for refreshments afterwards.

We will be holding our ‘Open Morning’ tomorrow Saturday 20 October 9.30 - 11.30 am and all current parents and prospective parents are invited to visit, chat to staff and look around the school. There will be tea and coffee in the hall providing an opportunity for prospective parents to chat more informally with myself and other staff. Please feel free to come along and take advantage of this opportunity and encourage any friends or neighbours with school age children to come along too. As I have said before there can be a misconception that only Catholic children can apply to our school. We welcome applications from all families of all or no faith. If you know of any families who are presently applying for a school place please encourage them to attend the Open morning or contact me to arrange a visit and tour of the school. Applications for Reception Class 2019 must be completed online by 15 January 2019. Year 6 children have been asked to attend our Open morning to act as guides. Our children are our best ambassadors and I am sure many parents like to hear of a child’s view of their school as well as the staff’s view. If your child would like to attend please return the permission slip to the office. We have been delighted with the number of Year 6 children who have volunteered to be guides on Saturday and have given so freely of their time. Thank you Year 6!

The Scholastic’ Half price’ book fair arrives on Monday 19 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.

Parents Evening will be held on Wednesday 7 November 4.00-7.00pm and Thursday 8 November 5.00 - 7.00pm. If you have not already done so please sign up for an appointment via the school life app. Please also check the school website for updated calendar dates.

After half term all children will all need to wear full winter uniform. This consists of white shirt and tie and trousers for the boys( Red polo shirts are only for summer). The girls winter uniform is white blouse and tie and grey skirt or pinafore. Can I just remind parents that culottes or trousers are not part of our girls uniform and should not be worn. I know many parents will take their children for haircuts over the half term break. Again we remind you that extreme haircuts are not allowed. Several parents have asked what is the permitted cut and we request a Grade 3 is the shortest. Several children have had extreme haircuts recently and once grown out we request that you adhere to our uniform policy. Thank you for your support and to the many parents who double check with me before taking their child to the hairdressers.

Finally, a reminder that this Monday, 22 October, our school photographer will be in school. All children will be photographed both individually and with siblings in school. If you would like your child to have a photograph with a pre school sibling please come to the school hall from 8.30am.

We hope you have a lovely weekend

KE Savage

Our talented dancers!