Newsletter 29 02/05/25

I hope that you are enjoying the weather as we enter May, however shortlived the current heat may be! I have enjoyed running along the seafront after work - admittedly, not the running part - and seeing a scene that wouldn't be out of place in the Mediterranean. It is nice to see people gathering together on the beaches, by the seaside, and making the most of our varying climate.

In two weeks, I will be making a pilgrimage walk along the seafront - from the pier to Chalkwell - as part of our Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee celebrations. We will be taking around a dozen of our pupils, joining with members of the other Catholic schools in the Assisi Trust, along with Father Graham. I am also pleased to be joined by Mrs Vanda Horton and Jim Wate, our site manager. Both are respected members of our Catholic community who are positive role models for our children and other staff, in the ways that they behave and relate towards others. 

Back to the running theme of earlier, I would like to congratulate any adults in our community who took part in the 26.2 miles of the London Marathon last week or even had a volunteer role. I have done it a few times myself and know that it is both an enjoyable achievement and an extremely tiring one. The support all around the course is always amazing and is an example of how we all need support in many areas of life to achieve things and get better. 

Congratulations are also due to the dozen or so children who represented us in the 2.6k Mini Marathon on the Saturday. The Facebook pictures show that they also enjoyed the experience of running close to Buckingham Palace and other iconic landmarks. Well done, all.

Well done also to our Eco Warriors who have been planting seeds with Mrs Holman during this season of growth. Like Mrs Horton and Mr Wate, whose jobs are connected to keeping our site safe, tidy and maintained, they are exemplifying our 'Love of Our World' value.

Making use of the practice and skills that they developed in previous months, a group of Year 5 pupils performed their dance 'Better When I'm Dancing' at the Southend Dance Festival. They were amazing, performing with great confidence and smiles on their faces. I hope that the year group enjoy their, overnight residential visits to Wat Tyler Park next week.

Although the weather is cooling, I hope that you are still able to enjoy the long weekend.

God Bless

Mr Beazeley

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

• 05/05/25 (Monday) – Spring Bank Holiday – NO CHILDREN SCHOOL

• 06/05/25 - Year 4 Greek Day (MOVED from Friday 2nd May)

• 06-07/05/25 – St Padre Pio Residential stay

• 08-09/05/25 – St Maximilian Kolbe Residential stay

• 08/05/25 – Class Assembly - St Paul

• 09/05/25 - Year 4 Bikeability

• 12–15/05/25 – Year 6 SATS week

• 16/05/25 – Pilgrims of Hope Walk – Pier to Chalkwell

• 22/05/25 – Pentecost Dash at St Thomas More – selected KS1 Team

• 23/05/25 – INSET Day – No children in school

• 26-30/05/25 – HALF TERM – No children in school

• 02/06/25 – CHILDREN RETURN TO SCHOOL

Next year's term dates have been announced, please see below for the school calendar

Here is our new Summer Term dinner menu, which is now in effect.

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.

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.

A group of Year 5 pupils performed their dance 'Better When I'm Dancing' at the Southend Dance Festival. They were amazing, performed with great confidence and smiles on their faces. 

World Art Day - We have bought together all the work that pupils completed on this day and it is on display in the Atrium for all to view. Well done to all the pupils and to the staff for persevering in getting it to stay on the wall.

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 

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