Newsletter 14 19/12/25

Thank you for joining us at this week's wonderful Christmas services in the church and for all of our celebrations during Advent. We appreciate your support at this special time and throughout 2025!

I am also very grateful for the many contributions to food banks and hampers in the last week; I am sure that they will be well received and help to brighten up the lives of individuals and families in need in our local community.

Thank you to all of the children and staff for their hard work in this busy season and in all of 2025. I hope that you all enjoy a rest from school along with the celebrations of Christmas, keeping in mind the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the centre of all that we do. Let us remember our love of God and love of others as we give thanks for all that we have and by showing care and appreciation for our families and friends.

At this time, we also give thanks for the service of Mrs Driscoll who has been part of our office team for 18 years and has a family connection with Sacred Heart going back 90 years! We wish her a healthy and very happy retirement, recognising a working life - going back before Sacred Heart - that will have touched the lives of numerous colleagues, as well as school children. As with all of our former colleagues and pupils, Mrs Driscoll will remain a part of Sacred Heart in her retirement and we look forward to inviting her back to see us in 2026 and beyond!

With hopes and prayers for your own special Christmas and a New Year full of happiness, good health and love.

Mr Beazeley

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. 

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

• 19/12 – LAST DAY OF TERM - PLEASE NOTE THAT SCHOOL FINISHES AT 1.00PM FOR EVERYONE ON THIS DAY

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

• 5/1/26 – CHILDREN RETURN TO SCHOOL

• 05/01 – Egyptian day – Year 3

• 05/01 – Swimming Year 4 St Lucy

• 07/01 – Sports Hall Athletics – selected Year 5 & 6

• 08/01 – Sports Hall Athletics – selected Year 3 & 4

• 12/01 – Nourish Taster session at 2.30pm

• 15/01 – Punch and Judy – Year 1 in hall

• 16/01 – Boys Football, selected team

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

KS2 Carol Concert

It was a true delight to listen to all the pupils sing and share the story of the Nativity.

Year 6 enjoyed travelled back in time to immerse themselves as Victorian school children

Some of our school choir visited Windermere Rest Home to share some Christmas cheer with the residents.  Everyone's favourite was Let it Snow.

The children in Year 3 showed fantastic skills in DT this week. They designed and made a vegetable stew which they then particularly enjoyed eating!

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!