Newsletter 35 20/06/25

I think that I may have been writing at the same time of night, this time last year, returning to my room with doors open and listening for sounds in the hall. Year 4 are currently experiencing their first 'residential' sleepover, recovering from a busy day including wall-climbing, fencing and skateboarding - and trying to get to sleep, along with all of their year group colleagues. 

Divided by the hall curtain, boys and girls have enjoyed a sing-a-long with Mr Smith, wood whittling and stone painting with Mrs Crabb before dinner then s'mores over the fire. We certainly didn't need the heat of the fire on this occasion but thank you to all of the staff for their contribution, including the kitchen staff coming back after hours. In particular, thank you to Miss Mendoza, Mrs Brownlee-Stokes, Mrs Hudson and Mr Jarvis for sleeping over with us. Apparently, s'more is a contraction of the phrase 'some more'. Approaching 10 o'clock, it's mostly quiet with the occasional toilet run.

The weather is certainly hot this week and I hope that you can enjoy it this weekend, safely. At the end of last week, lots of the SEESMA staff and teachers from other schools commented on how wonderful our pupils were at the Cliffs Pavilion on Friday, both the singing and the Music Makers group. Always lovely when other people say nice things; the children did us proud as they often do! Thank you to Mrs Elvidge and all for their organisation and for giving up time on a Friday night, along with other staff members.

Well done also to all of our junior athletes who took part in the Catholic Sports on Tuesday morning, many coming away with medals. With more sports events completed and others coming up, it's a good time to thank Mr Jarvis for all of his training and organisation of a huge number of events across the year.

Next Friday, we look forward to celebrating the Feast Day of Sacred Heart of Jesus, a special day in our calendar, a separate letter with details of the day has been sent. The weekend after, we hope to be celebrate our Summer Fayre on Sunday 6th July. As always, this enjoyable event requires as many parents as possible to offer some help, even if it just for an hour on the day. A caring and supportive community like ours should be able to come together and offer some help. Unfortunately, we have had few offers so far and, as a result, the event may not be able to go ahead.

We think at this time of our pupils who are preparing for their First Holy Communion on Sunday and keep them in our prayers. Best wishes to you all for a pleasant weekend.

Mr Beazeley

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

• 23/06/25 - Transition workshop for Year 6

• 24/06/25 – Beach trip year 1

• 24/06/25 - Super Sports - track - selected pupils

• 25/06/25 - Year 2 Great Fire of London workshop in hall

• 25/06/25 - Year 3 to the beach

• 25/06/25 - Nursery trip to the park

• 25/06/25 - Super Sports - field - selected pupils

• 26/06/25 – Choir Singing for Mayor in church

• 27/06/25 – Sacred Heart Feast Day Celebrations

• 01/07/25 – KS1 Borough Sports

• 03/07/25 – KS1 Catholic Sports

• 04/07/25 – Transition Day – all children in new classes

• 04/07/25 – Stay and Play sessions for new Reception & Nursery children

• 07/07/25 – KS1 (Yrs 1&2) Sports morning

• 07/07/25 – Reception Beach trip

• 08/07/25 – Lower KS2 (Yrs 3&4) Sports morning

• 09/07/25 – Year 2 Pier trip

• 09/07/25 – Upper KS2 (Yrs 5&6) Sports morning

• 09/07/25 – Year 6 Production – Annie 6.30pm to 7.30pm

• 10/07/25 – Year 6 Production – Annie 6.30pm to 7.30pm

• 11/07/25 – Musical Summer Concert 9.00am to 10.00am

• 11/07/25 – School reports go home

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.

Yesterday, Year 4 had their activity day and sleepover - please see our socials for even more pictures of what they got up to!

Some of our Year 6 pupils enjoyed a tennis taster session at Southchurch High today, they were guided by students from the school.

Year 2 went on a geography field trip to see how the local area is used and to identify different land uses.

Last Friday our Year 5's took part in SEESMA, a festival of singing and playing instruments. Here are some behind the scene snaps.

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.

OUTSTANDING MONEY

Just a remind to all our families to ensure that all outstanding monies are paid for by the end of this school term.  Please log onto your School Money accounts to check for outstanding balances and ensure any outstanding clubs, trips, dinners are settled.

If you have any questions regarding this please email annemariedriscoll@sacredheart.southend.sch.uk

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.

Sleep workshop (virtual sessions)

These sessions are for children under the care of the Lighthouse Child Development Centre or who have a diagnosed neurodivergent condition. To book a place please email to book a place: epunft.Lighthouse.asd@nhs.net. Sessions run from 10am to 12pm.

2025 Dates: 3 July, 18 September and 16 October.

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

Free Training - How to safeguard children and young people from experiencing gaming and gambling harms 

About the Workshop: Ygam are delivering fully funded City and Guilds workshops on how to safeguard children and young people from experiencing gaming and gambling harms. 

There is a dedicated Parent Awareness session for parent/carer/guardians who wants to learn more around the topic of gaming and gambling harms effecting young people. 

Why Attend?

+ Learn how to spot the signs of gaming and gambling harms 

+ Increase your safeguarding knowledge 

+ Support young people in managing screen time and in-game spending 

+ Receive free resources to embed the learning into your safeguarding practice 

+ Gain a City and Guilds Certificate and digital credential for attending our training 

Workshop Details: To secure your free place on our training, click the link below: 

https://ygam.org/training/south-of-england-safeguarding-children-partnership-workshops/ 

If you have any questions, please contact training@ygam.org