It's nice to see that the weather is warming up now that we have reached May although it is still quite changeable. I'm writing in advance of my visit to South Wales on Friday where I will be attending the conference of the NAHT (National Association of Head Teachers).

Science Day on Wednesday went with a bang, opened by Mrs Crabb's assembly and supported by our pupil Science Champions and ambassadors from St Thomas More's. Lots of exciting experimentation and learning was going on, hopefully something memorable for the children. Maybe they can look online and ask your permission to try the plastic straw through the potato!

Year 3 have enjoyed a trip to Colchester Castle: supported by our staff and a number of parent helpers. Year 3 are also involved in a project called 'Keep On Reading' at the moment; this is aimed at encouraging parents to carry on reading to and with their children even as they grow older, into Key Stage 2 (Juniors). 

Next week, I will be meeting to discuss next steps around wraparound care and on Thursday after school there will be a sale of preloved uniform in the atrium. On Thursday, we will also be celebrating Ascension Day with a mass in church which involves our older pupils in Years 4 to 6.

We also send prayers to the family of Daniel Anjorin-RIP- whose terrible killing this week I’m sure you have heard about via the news coverage. 

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him, may he rest in peace. Amen.

Daniel’s Mum works at Holy Family Catholic School in Walthamstow and we pray especially for her, Daniel’s Dad and siblings, that they may be comforted in their loss.

I hope that you can enjoy a happy and peaceful Bank Holiday weekend with your families and friends.

God bless,

Mr. Beazeley

Here are our stars of the week who have represented our core values well through their actions of responsibility, achievement, compassion, equality, faith and respect.

Our Amazon Wishlist is live!! The idea is that friends and family of the school can donate directly to the school library. We’ll still accept preloved copies from home that you may also wish to donate. The selection of books are chosen by the staff as texts that may benefit the pupil's reading comprehension, engagement with the curriculum and foster an interest in reading. The current list is reflective of this and will update as and when donations come through Amazon.co.uk 

A big thank you to those that have bought books for the school, we truly appreciate it.

6th May - Spring Bank Holiday – school closed NO PUPILS
8th May -  Quad Kids – selected Junior pupils
9th May -  Ascension Day Mass at 9.30am in Church
9th and 10th May - Year 5 Mary Mother of God Residential trip to Wat Tyler Park

10th May - Parent Transition meeting (see detail below) 2:30pm
13th - 16th May - Year 6 SATs Test
21st May – Status Quo drum workshop with Jeff Rich – Juniors

22nd May – Year 5 Catholic Senior School Meetings in school for parents 2.30pm

22nd May – Pentecost Dash at St Teresa’s – Selected team
22nd May - Local Governing Committee Meeting at 6.00pm
24th May - Nursery Application closing date for September 2021 start

24th May – Inset day – school closed NO PUPILS

27th - 31st May -  SCHOOL CLOSED – Half term holidays

1st June – First Holy Communion at Sacred Heart for those preparing

3rd June – Children return to school
11th June -  KS2 Borough Sports – selected Junior pupils

13th June -  Year 5 SEESMA rehearsals during the day and performance in the evening

The St Bernards Head of Year 7, Mr Pritchard, will be attending Sacred Heart on Friday 10 May at 2.30pm. Mr Pritchard plans to give a brief presentation and talk (5/10mins) to your parents regarding the expectations that St Bernard’s has of our incoming students.

Included in his presentation will be information for incoming SEN students and we are in the process of arranging a SEN specific transition day. 

Mr Pritchard looks forward to meeting you then.

On the morning of Science Day, pupils all participated in a sugar cube experiment, ask them about their findings! The rocket didn't blast off in assembly but as with all science we can learn why and make changes for when we try again.

Our garden area has had such needed attention from pupils this week, after a plant donation, and it is starting to look lovely again. Any plant donations would be gratefully received by the pupils, as we have lots more areas to fill.

DT club have been creating the moulds for their lion masks out of clay following their final designs. They did smaller mock ups using clay to help finalise any features.

Thank you to all those families who have engaged with the ISP (individual support plan) meetings at school. I hope the plans have been shared with you, with your child's views, targets and support they are receiving in school. Your feedback is greatly appreciated as we know that children with additional needs need a high level of support at home too. 

Please contact your class teacher if this hasn't been shared with you yet. Please log onto https://edukeyapp.com/parent/login to communicate or share your views. To find out further how we support children with special educational needs, at Sacred Heart Catholic school please click on this link.

This week we have updated our SEND Flow Chart.  You can find the full document on our website here

We would like to remind all our families using breakfast club of the importance of booking in advance.  We have noticed an increase of children not booking in advance and this effects our staffing ratio.

All bookings must be made at the beginning of each week so we can ensure we have enough staff available.  Priority will be given to children who have booked in advance and those who have not booked may not be able to stay.

If you need assistance making a booking please email annemariedriscoll@sacredheart.southend.sch.uk

We would like to remind all our families that we are a nut free school to protect some of our pupils/staff and therefore request that no items of food containing nuts are brought in.  We have noticed an increasing number of children bringing in snacks and spreads containing nuts ie cereal bars, chocolate spread etc.  We hope you all understand the importance that some of our community have epi pens for their allergies and we need to ensure their safety at all times.  Thank you for your co-operation.

With the closure of Paul's School Uniform, we have made a new partnership with Brand Identity Schoolwear.  You can order online at
www.b-id.co.uk/schools/ or buy at their store - Unit 2, 555 Sutton Rd, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 5FB (the entrance is on Stock Road).

An alternative retailer is Crawlers, who can be found at 361 Hamstel Road, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 4LE

Here is a reminder of our SCHOOL UNIFORM REQUIREMENTS as parents may be considering purchasing uniform for the summer term. Please also pay special attention to the jewellery and hairstyles requirements as well, thank you. 

A reminder to parents... we are a nut free school, so that means no Nutella/chocolate spread and peanut butter etc. should be bought in to school, including in packed lunches.  This is due to the fact that we have pupils severely allergic to nuts.  Thank you.

Please follow the link to the Ten Ten collective Worship Newsletter this month www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/parent-newsletter/