Autumn No. 11, Friday 20th December 2019
Gospel of the Week
(The 4th Sunday of Advent - Year A )
The Birth of Jesus Christ
The mother of Jesus Christ was Mary. And this is how the birth of Jesus came about. Mary was engaged to marry Joseph. But before they married, she learned that she was going to have a baby. She was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary’s husband, Joseph, was a good man. He did not want to disgrace her in public, so he planned to divorce her secretly.
While Joseph thought about this, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife. The baby in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son. You will name the son Jesus. Give him that name because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this happened to make clear the full meaning of what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be pregnant. She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel.” This name means “God is with us.”
When Joseph woke up, he did what the Lord’s angel had told him to do. Joseph married Mary.
Matthew 1:18-24
Newsletter Survey
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End of Term
The Autumn ends on Friday 20th December at 1.30pm. Please don't be late collecting your children and we hope you have a joyful and Holy Christmas!
Breakfast Club
We are refreshing our Breakfast Club waiting list, please contact the Reception Desk if you would be interested in joining the Breakfast Club waiting list.
Tennis Club
The letter to book for next year's Tennis Breakfast Club may be found on this link, or by clicking the picture!
RE Newsletter
The RE Newsletter for this term may be found on the following link:
Assemblies and Coffee Morning Timetable - Spring Term
The new Assemblies and Coffee Mornings Timetable will appear here in the newsletter at the beginning of the Spring Term.
Nuture Academy
We received a visit from Portia of the Nurture Academy who have set up a centre in Stratford. They are working with schools to offer up to ten vouchers a month for free hair appointments for children, beginning in December. If you would like to apply for one of these vouchers please leave your child's name and class at the Reception Desk.
The Nurture Academy is holding its grand opening on Saturday 14th December, so if you would like to be considered for one of the TEN FREE VOUCHERS, please drop a note in to the Reception Desk, for the attention of Mr Savin.
Advent RAMP Collection
Every Sunday in Advent our St Stephen's Parish Church will collect donations for our local RAMP (Refugee & Migrant Project) Food Bank. As you attend weekly Mass, please bring in non-perishable foods: dried foods especially rice, pasta, noodles; (1 litre bottle) vegetable cooking oil; sugar (1kg bag); tinned tomatoes, tinned beans, box of breakfast cereal, tea bags. Non-food items are also desperately needed, especially Baby nappies (sizes 3, 4, 5 & 6), Baby wipes, personal feminine hygiene items & toiletries e.g. toothpaste. RAMP ask for NO tinned soup, NO tinned pasta & NO tinned meat please. Thank you
Swimming
Once again our Year 3 children will be going to the London Aquatic Centre to take part in their intensive swimming course.
This year the children will be having the lessons during the first two weeks of the Spring Term, beginning on Monday 6th January 2020 and continuing until Friday 17th January 2020.
Due to escalating travel costs, the coach was going to cost over £3,000 for the two weeks, the children will be travelling by public transport and therefore will be attending the sessions wholly during the school day so the children will not have to arrive early at school as was previously the case.
A letter has been given to the Year 3 children providing full information.
The 15 spaces available for children who are less confident in the water and who would like to have additional lessons have been filled.
A letter has been sent out to remind all parent/carers of what your child is required to bring to the swimming lessons and details of the timings etc.
Gold Letters
Here is the up to date totals of Gold Letters per class:
Class RP - 74
Class RW - 66
Class 1D - 90
Class 1/2H - 74
Class 2B - 77
Class 3G - 40
Class 3/4P - 115
Class 4H - 76
Class 5F - 53
Class 5/6M - 81
Class 6H - 62
Winter Reading Challenge
The Winter Reading Challenge launched in all Newham libraries on Saturday 1st December. The aim of the challenge is to read three books of your choice between the 1st December and 11th January 2019. Visit Manor Park library to pick up your special Christmas card reading log where you can collect stickers as you complete the challenge. You can also complete online book reviews at: www.winterreadingchallenge.org.uk. When you have completed the challenge, you can collect a certificate from the library or print it off from the Winter Reading Challenge website. The school with the highest number of finishers will be awarded a trophy so it would be great if lots of children from our school take part in the challenge.
Parent Contribution
There appears to be a little confusion surrounding the 'Parent Contribution' on Schoolmoney. The idea, put forward by the Parent/Carer Forum, was that the school would calculate how much it would expect to ask parent/carers for over the course of the academic year so that families would be able to budget for the year, knowing that no more contributions would be asked for. A sum of £33.00 was agreed between the school and the Forum, which includes non-uniform days, an educational visit and the Summer Fun Day. It does not include any non-uniform days for charity events or things like the Cafod Appeal.
It is also set up so that families may pay in instalments, rather than all at once. A slight problem has arisen with the visits to the pantomimes, where some families have paid and some are yet to do so. This has meant that the school has had to use part of its budget, which is desperately needed to fund the children's education. If you are yet to pay, please make every effort to do so as soon as possible. If you are able to at least make a part payment of £10 to cover the cost of the pantomime, in the interim, that would be wonderful, thank you.
Christmas Jumper Day & Christmas Meal
The children all had fun wearing their Christmas Jumpers and eating their Christmas meals. Photos will appear in the newsletter and on the website in the New Year.
Parent/Carer Forum Meeting
The next meeting of the Forum will now be on Monday 13th January 2020
Return to School
Don't forget we return to school on Monday 6th January 2020 at 8.55am, gates open at 8.45am.
Merry Christmas!
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year from all of us at St Winefride's!
This Week's Prayer
Dear Lord,
We thank you for your great love. We thank you that you showed us that love by sending your son, Jesus, to save us. In his name we pray,
Amen
God Bless You,
The St Winefride's Team