Dear Parents

Thank you to so many parents and grandparents who came in for 'Open classroom' last Monday. The children always enjoy showing off their new classroom and teacher! It has been lovely to see how well the children have settled into the new school year. It is evident already that they are keen to practise their spellings, tables and reading at home. Thank you for all your support.

On Monday, Year 6 will depart on their residential retreat to Alton Castle where, as well as taking part in some challenging and adventurous activities, they will have the opportunity to learn more about their faith. We hope to share some of their experiences with you next week. Accompanying our Year 6 at Alton Castle will be the Year 6 children of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School, Harborne, who are part of our Multi Academy Company, SNOMAC. This will enable our children to meet and make friends with some of the children they will be with when they all transfer to Hagley for Year 7. My gratitude to Miss Hill, Mrs Edwards, Mrs Mound and Mrs Jones for accompanying the children; enabling them to gain so much from this experience.

On Thursday October 4 at 6.30pm we will be holding a Year 6 information evening at school. At this meeting Miss Hill will explain the aims and expectations for our Year 6 children, SATs assessment,preparation for High school, attendance etc and how through school and family we can support our children as they move onto the next stage of their lives. I am delighted to say Mrs S Horan, Principal of Hagley Catholic High School will join us for this meeting. Mrs Horan will give a short presentation on Hagley Catholic High School and answer any questions you may have.

Hagley Catholic High School will be holding their annual Open Day on Saturday 13 October from 9.00am to 12.00pm. If you have a child in Key Stage 2, it is never too early to start thinking about High Schools. The vast majority of our children transfer to Hagley at the end of Year 6, so do take this opportunity to take a look at the school. Our Year 6 children have now received their High School transfer forms. If you have any queries regarding transfer please do not hesitate to speak to us.

Applications for Reception Class 2019 must be completed online by 15 January 2019. 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 contact me to arrange a visit and tour of the school.

Next Friday, 28 September we will be holding a 'Tea and cake' afternoon in the school hall at 2.30pm. Staff will be providing all the cakes and all monies donated will go to Macmillan's. Please come and join us in the school hall and enjoy being waited on by our Year 6 pupils! I especially welcome our new Reception Class parents as it is a lovely opportunity to sit and chat in a relaxed atmosphere. We also hope to see many of our parishioners. Please support us in this worthy cause.

On Wednesday 10 October the PTA will be holding their Annual General Meeting in the school at 6.30pm. The PTA had a very successful year last year and worked very hard, but are very keen to listen to all new ideas and welcome all new parents whether they are new to the school or have just not been to Friends' meetings before. For those parents who are new to the school the PTA meetings are a good way to get to know other parents and to socialise whilst supporting the school. There is no pressure to take a leading role so please do come along - the more people who get involved the better!

On Friday 5 October we will be holding our annual Harvest Mass in school at 9.15am - please join us if you can. As usual our harvest gifts will be sold and the proceeds donated to the Father Sunny Trust - a charity supported by both school and parish. We would be very grateful for any food items that can be donated for this on the Friday morning. Thank you.

This Sunday, 23 September the school will lead the singing at 10.00am Mass. We look forward to welcoming all our families and especially those in our new Reception Class. We encourage the children to sit at the front with their teachers but some children may be happier to sit with their families. We are very grateful to Mrs Mohan for helping us out with our music this weekend. As Fr Richard is presently away, Mass will be celebrated by Fr Michael Dolman. Fr Michael has worked a lot with the young people of Alton Castle and is an extremely interesting speaker. It would be lovely to see as many of our children there as possible to make him feel welcomed.

This weekend many of our former pupils will be setting off to university having achieved great successes at 'A' level. It is hard to believe the little four year olds we welcomed into Reception class are now on the brink of training to become doctors, engineers, physiotherapists, lawyers, teachers, scientists to name but a few. We are extremely proud of them all and wish them much happiness as they take the next step in their academic careers. Please remember them in your prayers.

Unfortunately already, we have had a number of children who have lost jumpers over the last few weeks and a number of un-named jumpers in lost property. Could all parents please check that their child's jumper has a name clearly marked in it and also that they have not accidentally brought home another child's jumper. Thank you for your help with this - we have a number of parents who are understandably frustrated that their child's named clothing is missing and we really do need to reunite children with their correct clothes!

If you have any queries or concerns regarding your child's academic, social or emotional needs please do not hesitate to contact me or their class teacher. Many thanks for your continued support and enjoy a lovely weekend with your families.

KE Savage

Principal

Emmaus CMAC
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