Newsletter 07 18/10/24

Following the two-night residential trip of Year 6 last week, St Joseph's class led with their assembly to parents today, sharing some of their experiences whilst away and connecting to the theme of KINDNESS. Facing some new challenges, along with what for some may have been the longest time away from parents, they needed the support and kindness of each other to have an enjoyable time. I am sure that they now know each other even better than they did before, despite spending a number of previous years in the classroom and playground together! The children gave thanks to the supporting adults for their time and kindness whilst accompanying them on the trip with a chocolate reward!

In assembly this week, Years 1 and 2 heard about 'Treasure in Heaven' with the message that some things, like time with friends and family, are more valuable than possessions. Linking to the week's Gospel story, questioning whether the rich can enter heaven, our Key Stage 2 assembly with the charity HARP demonstrated how we can offer kindness and help for those in more difficult circumstances than ourselves. Where we have more than we need, we can support others so thank you for your kind donations this week.

Year 5 enjoyed a day out in London on Wednesday, with the highlight being their trip to see the Lion King. I am sure that they enjoyed a great experience, and that we can give other children a similar opportunity in London as they move up through the school.

Next week, we look forward to a range of visitors, including an actor, architect, engineer, designers, police and our new MP, as we introduce our first Aspirations Week. 

Whilst cameras have not yet been erected on Windermere Avenue, Tuesday marks the start of our volunteer-led road closure, thanks to the support of parents. As we have mentioned previously, the road will be closed to traffic between 8.10 and 9.10 although we do not yet have enough volunteers to operate the same system after school.

God bless, keep well and enjoy the weekend.

Mr Beazeley

• 21-25 Oct – Aspirations Week

• 23/10/24 – Girls Football Tournament at Our Lady of Lourdes – Selected team

• 24/10/24 – Southend United Boys Mixed U11’s – Selected team

• 25/10/24 – Dress as who you aspire to be

• 28/10/24 to 01/11/24 – HALF TERM WEEK – School Closed

• 04/11/24 – Children return to school

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.  The link to our Wishlist is here.

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

Year 1 had a wonderful time at the beach, making spirals. They worked together to create some big spirals and used lots of different natural materials.

Thank you to everyone who donated food to our Harp appeal. Harp are very grateful for all the donations and some of our Senior Students helped to load it all in the van. 

...seeing the sights in Covent Garden  and lunch in the sunshine...

Our pupils took part in the local Cross Country Competition and all ran so well. A notable mention to our year 1 girls who place 4th overall out of 14 teams.

Application forms are now available in the porch of both churches to apply for your child’s place on the First Holy Communion Course 2025. Your child should be in Year 3. It is best if your child joins the course while in year 3 as they will be amongst likeminded children of a similar age and with their friends. However, if your child is a little older they may also join the course. The forms must be returned to Sacred Heart Presbytery by Sunday 3rd November. You will be informed if your application has been successful before the Parent’s Meeting on Wednesday 13th November. We will ask to see your child’s Baptism certificate.

LOST PROPERTY

Please can all parents check their child’s clothes -  All items should be clearly labelled and your child needs to ensure they can identify their own property.  Staff are wasting too much time searching for children’s clothing and dealing with frustrated parents.

Thank you for your co-operation.

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.

Breakfast club bookings also includes the tea club (£9 per session) - again all bookings must be booked and paid for in advance.  Failure to pay will result in the child not being able to attend future sessions.

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.

The Ben Kinsella Trust are running an online 2 hour session in October for all parents, carers and anyone who supports young people.
Join this FREE online workshop to learn more about topics such as the influence of social media, the signs and stages of exploitation, and how we can prevent young people being affected by knife crime as parents, carers and as a community.

The Ben Kinsella Trust - Parents and Carers - Helping our Children Stay Safe | 15th October 6:30 - 8:30pm (beaconforms.com)

In the next coming weeks, the teachers will be sharing  the summer Individual Support Plans (ISP) with all the families, who have children with special educational needs. I hope the plans devised will show the successes in their new year groups. Your input is greatly appreciated as we know that children with additional needs need a high level of support at home too. Your class teacher will be in contact with you for a meeting  and provide you with a new password. The ISPs will be online, please log onto https://edukeyapp.com/parent/login to communicate and share your views. Please speak to your class teacher if you need further support with this process. 

To find out further how we support children with special educational needs, at Sacred Heart Catholic school please click on this link: 

Thank you 

Mrs White - SENCO 

Parentkind – the charity that supports school PTAs - have teamed up with Asda, who are making millions of pounds available to donate to primary schools across the UK through their ‘Cashpot for Schools’ initiative –  all you have to do is, opt in through the Asda Rewards app, choose our primary school and shop and scan in store or shop online at Asda.com, between 2nd September and 30th November 2024

Asda will donate 0.5% of the value of your shop to our Primary school. Also, every time somebody opts in, Asda will give an additional £1 to the school Cashpot. Plus, it doesn’t stop there – Asda are also giving £50 to every school to get them started.

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