Well done and thank you to Mrs Elvidge and our choir who went along to sing at Countdown to Christmas at St Mary's last Saturday. What a fantastic start to the run up to Christmas! I believe that they sounded wonderful and were definitely enjoyed by all. You should all be very proud of yourselves.

The choir are getting ready for their next event, which is singing at the Christmas Fair next Sunday 7th December. They will be singing at 1pm in the hall to add to the Christmassy atmosphere. On Thursday 11th December at 5pm, a small group of the choir will be singing at Waitrose and I hope to be able to get along to hear them.

The preparations for Christmas have been an obvious theme for this week as we head swiftly towards the first Sunday of Advent. It will be interesting for you to check what your children have retained about Advent, including some of the symbolism: the circular wreath, evergreen leaves and colourful candles - what do they all represent? I've also suggested to the children that they should aim to do one, additional good deed during every day of the season: if they have their own calendar at home, each deed is in return for the daily sweet treat.

Please encourage your friends and neighbours to join us for our Christmas Fayre next Sunday. On the day before, we have an 'Open Morning' from 10 to 11 for those whose children are starting school next September. As our leaflets and new banners say, we are a Catholic school that welcomes all!

Two bits of sad news this week. Bertie, our therapy dog who used to visit us each week, passed away a couple of weeks ago. He was much loved by the children who interacted with him.

Mrs Spivey who has worked in Early Years for the last three years is leaving us today for another role. We thank her for being a part of our team and wish her well for the future. We hope to see her back at Sacred Heart, even if only as a visitor.

Our prayers and good wishes are with Jen and you all this 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/  

• 03/12 – EYFS Christmas Sing Along at 9.30am

• 03/12 - EYFS Christmas Sing Along at 2.00pm

• 03/12 – Beach Trip – Year 6

• 04/12 – Chocolate Day for Year 4

• 05/12 – Christmas Decoration Day – all school

• 05/12 – Bring a bottle day, to wear non-uniform

• 05/12 – Kurling and Boccia – selected team

• 06/12 – Saturday Open Morning for EYFS Starters 10-11am

• 07/12 – Christmas Fayre 12-3pm

• 08/12 – Flu Immunisation mop-up date

• 08/12 – KS1 Nativity 2.00pm

• 09/12 – KS1 Nativity 9.30am

• 11/12 – Christmas Dinner for whole school

• 16/12 – KS2 Christmas Service 1.45pm

• 16/12 – KS2 Christmas Service 6.30pm

• 17/12 – KS1 Christmas Party afternoon

• 17/12 – Choir with Mayor at Sacred Heart Church

• 18/12 – KS2 Christmas Party afternoon

• 19/12 – LAST DAY OF TERM - SCHOOL FINISHES AT 1.00PM FOR ALL

• 22/12/25 to 2/1/26 – CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS

• 5/1/26 – CHILDREN RETURN TO SCHOOL

Below are our Nourish dinner menus, which will run until the end of March

Dear Parents and Carers,

My name is Dori Calik, and I would like to introduce myself as the new Chair of Friends of Sacred Heart (FOSH), parent-run charity supporting SHS. Alongside me is Frankie Chilton, our new Vice Chair, and a small group of dedicated committee members. 

Following the recent resignation of the previous committee, the new FOSH team was formally appointed at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 2nd October. Our shared goal is to continue the valuable work of supporting and enriching our school community - be it events, fundraising, and working alongside school staff and families.

Our first project together will be the School Christmas Fayre, a much-loved event that brings our community together to celebrate the festive season. 

To make the fayre a success, we are looking for volunteers to help in a variety of ways — from planning and organising to setting up, running stalls, or tidying away afterwards.

We completely understand that time is precious, so our aim is to divide tasks into small, manageable roles to make it easy for everyone to get involved. Every bit of help, no matter how small, makes a real difference.

If you are interested in helping with the Christmas Fayre or getting involved with FOSH in general, please leave your name and contact details at the school reception, and one of us will be in touch soon. Or if you have a business and would like a stall at the fayre, again please leave contact details. 

Thank you for your continued support. We are very excited to get started and look forward to working together to make this year’s events enjoyable and successful for the whole school community.

Kind regards,

Dori Calik Chair, Friends of Sacred Heart (FOSH) and Frankie Chilton, Vice Chair

We are looking forward to delivering another successful Holiday Activity and Food programme this Christmas. 

The programme will run from Mondays and Tuesdays 22nd, 23rd, 29th and 30th December 2025. 

Eligible families will be able to book up to a maximum of 4 sessions and only attend one club per day. 

Next steps for Schools – Christmas HAF Programme Email all your Benefits Related Free School families to share the booking link to book their Christmas HAF bookings on Wednesday 26 November at 10.30am. 

Here is the link: to the Eequ Booking site: Book your free HAF place here 

We know some of our families struggle with technology, so we have partnered with the Salvation Army and have arranged 2 drop-in sessions from 9.30am to 12 at the following locations to support families to book onto the HAF clubs and find out more information about free Early Years Childcare options 

Salvation Army Community Centre Frobisher Way Shoeburyness SS3 8UT 

Salvation Army Community Centre 121 Elm Road Leigh on Sea SS9 1SP 

At both venues Jade Hartley from the Early Years team will share childcare support available for families from 9 months to 4 years. 

No need to book and refreshments will be available. I will be available to support families to access a HAF place and potential providers who want to know about how to become an approved HAF Provider. 

Any questions please contact me email HAF@southend.gov.uk or call 07795 044329 We look forward to seeing you at the Drop-in sessions. 

Kind Regards Fiona Comish HAF Coordinator 

Dear Parents and Carers,

We wanted to send a reminder to all our families of the uniform requirements from September 2025. We would like to draw special attention to:

• Hair styles - must not be extreme

• Earrings - no earrings of any kind. If you wish to get your child's ears pierced, the must be done at the beginning of the holidays to allow sufficient time to heal before returning to school. 

• Shoes - must be sensible and sturdy - no trainers

• Boots - only to be worn to and from school - need to change to shoes in school

 Please read the attached document for full information on all uniform requirements. 

 There will be a PRE-LOVED UNIFORM EVENT at the beginning of September, so please look out for this. 

 We would also like to remind everyone that all items in school must be clearly labelled, and the school will not accept responsibility for lost items. 

 Please help us to be 'The smartest school in town' and support us in ensuring the children are wearing the correct uniform, are fully prepared and ready to learn.

Kind regards,

School Office.

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.

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.  Lost Property with no name is regualry sorted and either given to the pre-loved sale or taken to a local charity shop.

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.

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

Thank you to everyone who attended the Autumn ISP meetings and parent meetings—we really appreciate your time and input. Please remember to add your comments on the Provision Map website, as this helps us keep everything up to date and ensures your child’s support is clearly documented.

During the meetings, many conversations focused on children experiencing sensory overload. We’d like to share a helpful resource with you, the Sensory Toolkit, which offers practical strategies for supporting children with sensory difficulties. It’s a wonderful tool for both home and school.

https://padlet.com/specialistteachingteam/southend-city-inclusion-ideas-and-inspiration-cbow1gcprlnux121/wish/4b3zaM0Rep3gW2j7

Thank you for your continued support!

Best Regards

Mrs K. White (SENCO) 

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

Click or tap on the picture below to view the digital brochure for Christmas In The City 2025 – Southend’s festive celebration full of activities, entertainment, and seasonal fun for all ages!