Newsletter 25 21/03/25

I hope that you found the consultation meeting with your child's teacher helpful this week. I certainly enjoyed the meetings we held with Year 5 pupils, who led their 'learning reviews' with presentations around successes, challenges and most (and least) favourite things about school. I feel that I know those pupils much better now and I hope that you too got a good sense of how your children are progressing.

Thank you to the teachers for their preparation and for giving additional time for the evening meetings - and to our pupil ambassadors for volunteering extra time to guide parents and encourage completion of our surveys. Please click this link if you didn't get the chance to answer the short, quick set of questions.

Sandwiched between our two days of consultations was an amazing Science Day, led by Miss Dugdale and Mrs Davison. Their excellent organisation resulted in an exciting opening assembly, followed by a range of practical, hands-on lessons, with children rotating around the classrooms to be with different teachers. A competiton on the day and another based at home ensured the fun continued. 

We were also supported by pupil science ambassadors from St Thomas More's on Wednesday and today our own science ambassadors visited their school to enjoy an experience of colourful chemistry in the lab. Thank you so much to Miss Dugdale and Mrs Davison for their hard work and to everyone else for really getting into a very different kind of day. I look forward to many more days like this, off timetable!

Earlier in the week, on Monday, Mrs Moyies organised a group of our Year 2 singers to attend the Infant Music Festival. Another example of an experience that is different from our typical, daily curriculum, this was something enjoyed by pupils and parents alike. Well done to everyone involved.

Wishing you a fun and creative weekend, perhaps...

Mr Beazeley

• 24/03/25 – Hot Cross Run Day at St Thomas More

• 25/03/25 – Year 2 - Colchester Zoo Trip

• 26/03/25 – WWII Art Exhibition in school hall from 2.30pm to 3.30pm

• 27/03/25 – St Padre Pio – Class Assembly

• 27/03/25 – Netball League match

• 28/03/25 – Big Lent Walk

• 28/03/25 – Girls with ASD Coffee - afternoon at 2.00pm 

• 01/04/25 – Easter Service in church – 1.45pm

• 01/04/25 – Easter Service in church – 6.30pm

• 02/04/25 – St Bernadette - Wagamama Trip

• 03/04/25 – St Bernadette – Class Assembly

• 03/04/25 – Last day of Term for all pupils

• 04/04/25 – School Closed – INSET Day, staff training

• 07/04/25-21/04/25 - EASTER HOLIDAYS

• 22/04/25 - CHILDREN RETURN TO SCHOOL

Here is our new dinner menu.  Please note that the meat we serve is not Halal.

In line with other schools we will be introducing a new policy where by any children not collected from school by 3.30pm will be placed in our after school tea club and a £6 fee will be applied to your School Money account.

We have seen an increase in the number of children not collected on time and we hope the new charges will ensure children are collected promptly.

We would like to remind all our families that we are a nut free school to protect some of our pupils and staff who are allergic, 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.

Our staff received training on Asthma recently.  A slideshow showing the main points for parents is available on our website here

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.

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 Lady of Lourdes Class shared their class assembly about how the woman at the well learnt about God and his love, and that he will always love us no matter what we do. They sung some beautiful songs all about how much God loves us.

Science Day!

The day started with a brilliant assembly from Mad Science. Then pupils across the school enjoyed a wide range of investigations and visited teachers in all year groups. The day ended with a whole school competition to see who could empty a bottle the quickest. With St Padre Pio winning a non uniform day for their efforts and quickest time.

Preparations have begun for our Penguin which will become part of the Great Waddle in Southend City this Summer Havens Hospices Waddle-on-Sea

The nursery children walked to the train station.

They saw the trains, went through the barriers and were given a ticket. They were beautifully behaved and were a pleasure to take out.

Some of our Year 2 pupils participated in the Infant Music Festival. The theme was weather and they joined other schools in singing a variety of songs including their own about a rainbow.

Year 1 enjoyed a fantastic trip to Wagamamas; where the class made their own noodle lunch, tasted a variety of different healthy smoothies and also smelt and touched some amazing Asian ingredients. The class behaved brilliantly on the trip and we are very proud of them.

Get ready to sharpen your skills because our school is participating in an epic TTRS Battle within our school trust! 🏆✨ It’s a thrilling online competition where students from across the trust will compete to become the top school and show off their amazing times tables skills.

Who will come out on top and claim the crown? 👑 Let’s show them what we’re made of!

PUPIL ABSENCE

When a child is off sick, a phone call must be made daily to record their absence.  For sickness and diarrhea, the school has a 48 hours policy from the last episode before a child can return to school.

Any medical appointments need proof of the appointment for our records.

For any other absences a leave of absence form must be completed which can be obtained from the office.

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 (£3 per session) runs from 7:30 until the start of school and includes a light breakfast and childcare.  

We also run a tea club (£6 per session) from 3:15-5:30pm which includes a light tea and childcare - 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.

Dear Parents/carers,

Thank you so much for attending the Spring ISP meetings with your child's class teachers. Your involvement and partnership in your child's education is deeply appreciated. If you haven't yet had the opportunity to book a meeting, it's not too late! We encourage you to reach out to your child’s teacher to discuss the targets they will be working on next term. This is a wonderful way to support your child's learning and progress.

As a polite reminder, we have created a Learning Plan tailored to your child's needs and would greatly value your input. You can view and comment on the plan by visiting the following link: https://edukeyapp.com/parent/login. To access the plan, please use the code provided by your class teacher or contact our school SENCO, Mrs. White, for assistance in accessing it online.

Your feedback is important to us, and we look forward to your contributions, as we continue to work together to support your child's development.

Warm regards,  Mrs White (SENCO)

Click on the image below to read a workshop for parents of children who are anxious or worried about coming to school