30 September 2022

Dear Parents and Carers

We hope everyone has had a good week despite the sudden change in weather, it is quite evident now that we have waved goodbye to summer and autumn is in full force!

Every September a key school event, especially for Year 6, is the election of our House and Sports captains. Yesterday, presentations and voting were held as an outdoor gathering in the sunshine. The younger children were all able to sit within their House groups in the playground as the Year 6 candidates presented their speeches . The speeches were possibly the best we had ever heard and there was great camaraderie and support from all the Year 6 children. Voting and presentations were then made to excited applause from all the younger children reinforcing the concept of democracy and their right to a voice. Congratulations to all our Year 6 children who wrote such excellent speeches.

A massive thank you to everyone who joined us this afternoon for our ‘Tea and cake’ afternoon in aid of Macmillans. Our visitors were waited on by our Mini Vinnies pupils who did a wonderful job. My thanks too to the staff who contributed all the cakes. We raised over £140 which will be very gratefully received by such a worthy charity.

This week as been 'National Green Week'. Next Tuesday we welcome 'Rise Theatre' to school for a whole day of theatre and workshops focused on 'Creation' and our roles as stewards of our planet and how each of us can care for our planet and the environment. Each child becomes part of story on an exciting journey around planet earth - from the cold peaks of Antarctica, the depths of the sea, to the multicoloured rainforest and the never ending awe of outer space! All the children will also get to take part in fun creative art activities throughout the day. As part of focus we would like the children to wear something green on the day over their uniform for example a green jumper, T shirt, socks, tights or hair accessories. Please do not go to any expense just simple pieces. The Theatre cost will be funded by school but we would welcome a £1.00 donation to send to an environmental charity that the children will choose. We are sure it will be a very exciting and enjoyable day for the whole school. Thank you

 A reminder that the Year 6 Information Evening will take place on Monday 3 October at 3.40 pm At this meeting Mrs Freitas 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. It is very important that every effort is made to attend this meeting. The children will be supervised by staff and we look forward to seeing our Year 6 parents at the meeting. Thank you

A reminder that Friday, 7 October, is a staff INSET day and school is closed for the children. The school calendar is updated weekly, could you please check regularly for new dates, events and meetings.

On Tuesday 11 October Tempest will visit school to take individual and sibling photographs. The children will need to wear winter uniform for the photographs. If you have a pre school child you are welcome to come into school hall from 8.40am to have a photograph with their sibling. Please be aware this is only for younger siblings, we cannot facilitate older children at High school. 

We will be holding our ‘Open Morning’ on Friday 14 October from 9.15-11.30am and prospective parents are invited to visit, have a guided tour of the school in action, chat to staff and look around the school. 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 preparing to apply 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 2023 must be completed online by 15 January 2023.

Hagley Catholic High School will be holding their annual Open Morning on Saturday 8 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. 

Thank you to everyone who responded to the survey regarding how Parents Evening should run in the light of a return to more normal times. In the last academic year, we offered a blend of virtual and face to face meetings and now asked for parent feedback on how you would like them to run this year. There is a demand for more face to face meetings but remote meetings are the best options for some families. So as a result of your feedback we will run two evenings - Tuesday 1 November 4:00-7:00pm all face to face meetings in school and Thursday 3 November 4.30-5.30pm face to face in school followed by virtual meetings from 6:00-7:00pm. This 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. We will evaluate the system afterwards but we hope this hybrid will be the best option. Booking slots will be open from Tuesday 4 October until Monday 31 October.

Though it is hard to believe, it will not be long before half term break will soon be upon us. After half term all children will all need to wear full winter uniform. This consists of white shirt or blouse and tie and grey skirts, pinafores or trousers. All shoes must be black school shoes and trainers are not permitted. Again we remind you that extreme haircuts and dyed hair are not acceptable. 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.

Wulstan's Lodge: There will be a holiday club running during October half term at Wulstan's Lodge. Please find the booking form below.

This week Reception Class have started learning phonics. They have been helping Fred the Frog to blend sounds into words and have enjoyed exploring the new sounds in lots of ways.

Reception and Year 1 had a brilliant afternoon being musicians and artists this week. They played instruments to a beat and created some autumnal artwork. 

This week our Year 3 children have been learning about some of the signs and symbols of baptism. They worked well in small groups and used role play to help them understand the important promises made by parents and godparents. In maths, they have continued with place value and have been comparing and ordering numbers to 1000. Before they read the end of their our class text, the children did a fantastic job of writing their own ending to the story, with a big focus on using paragraphs. Well done Year 3!

Year 4 have been busy over the past few weeks developing their geography and music skills. This week’s geography lesson focused on symbols found on maps and how to record four figure references. In music, the children have started to master the A and B notes playing the recorder. We look forward hearing how the children progress over the next few weeks.

This week, Year 5 had their second visit from Mr Mallinson and are well on the way to learning their songs for the Pyramid concert. Mr Mallinson has been impressed with Year 5’s attitude towards their singing and is super pleased with the progress they have made so far! In PE, Year 5 have been continuing to develop their teamwork skills in their OAA sessions. This week we had to try and create a secret word with our bodies and see if the rest of the class could guess what it was. We had mixed results, but the teamwork was excellent and we might have even had some fun!!!!

We are all aware of the financial challenges on families and never more so than at the moment. Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you wish to enquire about free school meals. It is a very straightforward process that Mrs Brown will readily support you with. As well as supporting families it also benefits school finances as we receive extra funding for every child who receives FSM which we use to support learning. Please speak to me or Mrs Brown if you would like more information.

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