Spring No. 2, Friday 24th January 2020
Gospel of the Week
(The Baptism of the Lord - Year A )
Jesus Begins Work in Galilee
Jesus heard that John had been put in prison. So Jesus went back to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went and lived in Capernaum, a town near Lake Galilee. Capernaum is in the area near Zebulun and Naphtali. Jesus did this to make true what the prophet Isaiah said:
“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali
are on the way to the sea.
They are along the Jordan River.
This is Galilee where the non-Jewish people live.
These people who live in darkness
will see a great light.
They live in a place that is very dark.
But a light will shine on them.”
Isaiah 9:1-2
Jesus Chooses Some Followers
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Change your hearts and lives, because the kingdom of heaven is coming soon.”
Matthew 4:12-17
School Review
You may have noticed some rather smartly dressed people around the school on Wednesday and Thursday. Despite what it may have looked like they were not inspecting the school! Well actually they were 'sort of' inspecting us. We held a School Review, which mimics many aspects of an inspection and we are delighted to say the reviewers found that the children, staff and parent/carers were all fantastic. There were a few small things that we can improve on quite easily and we now look forward to any potential inspection with a degree of calm and certainty! The lead reviewer will be writing a letter to us with his thoughts and comments and we will publish it in the newsletter and make it available to all of our parent/carers as soon as we receive it.
Communication Books
An immediate change we are able to make is to provide all of our parent/carers with an easy means of communicating with the school staff. From Monday there will be a table at the school gate with Communication Books for each class, where you will be able to leave a message for a class teacher or other adult and we will respond that day, either with a phone call, an email or verbally at the end of the school day. The notes may be about any subject. e.g. reminders about appointments, requests to meet the teacher, queries about homework and so on. The books will be kept in lockable bags for security and to comply with Data Protection. For any personal information that you would prefer not to write down you may, of course, go in to the Reception Desk Staff and speak to them. The use of the books is not compulsory it is just to give you an extra way of communicating with us.
ACE
Another immediate change is to introduce ACE. The reviewers found that sometimes the children were able to Answer questions really quickly but then didn't have enough room to add to their answers by being able to Convince and Explain themselves. Now the children will be given an ACE card to fully Answer, Convince and Explain their responses.
Booster Classes
The Booster Classes for the Year 6 children will begin on Wednesday 29th January and Thursday 30th January. They will continue every Wednesday and Thursday for 12 weeks. Please be advised that the classes will end at 4.15pm.
Boots
If you send your child to school wearing boots (any kind, wellies, ankle, knee etc.) due to the inclement weather, please also send in a pair of 'normal' school shoes too. There are many activities that are not practical wearing boots and it must be pointed out that boots are NOT part of the school uniform.
Handprint Theatre
We are very happy to let you know that Handprint Theatre will be in next week to entertain and educate the children!
RE Newsletter
The RE Newsletter for this term may be accessed on the following link:
Assemblies and Coffee Morning Timetable - Spring Term
Assemblies in St Stephen's
Friday 17th January - Class 2BFriday 24th January - Class 1/2H- Friday 31st January - Class 4H
- Friday 7th February - Class 1D
- Friday 14th February - Class 5F
- Half Term Break
- Friday 28th February - Class 3G
- Friday 6th March - Class 3/4P
- Friday 13th March - Class RW
- Friday 20th March - Class RP
- Friday 27th March - Stations of the Cross
- Friday 3rd April - Governors Assembly
Performances in Coffee Morning
Friday 17th January - No PerformanceFriday 24th January - Class 2B- Friday 31st January - Class 1/2H
- Friday 7th February - Class 4H
- Friday 14th February - Class 1D
- Half Term Break
- Friday 28th February - Class 5F
- Friday 6th March - Class 3G
- Friday 13th March - Class 3/4P
- Friday 20th March - Class RW
- Friday 27th March - Class RP
- Friday 3rd April - No Performance
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 held 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.
Swimming
Well the Year 3 pupils (and a few year 5 and 6 children) have now finished their swimming programme and had lots of fun while learning a vital life skill! We'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone, the children, the staff and the parent/carers for being so accommodating and making sure that the lessons have gone as well as they have. Any certificates etc will be sent on to the school shortly.
New School Website
We are delighted to let you know that our new website is in the final stages of being created. It will go live ,hopefully before the half term break, after we have tested it to make sure that it is working correctly. It will include many of the pages and areas of the current site and also new items and is in a much simpler layout and will be easier to navigate.
Online Safety Month
February is Online Safety Month but we don't limit our online safety to just one month! This week's info is about Minecraft. Follow this link to find out everything parents/carers need to know about Minecraft!
4H Cake Sale
Class 4H will be holding a Cake Sale next Friday! if your children are in Class 4H please send in some cakes that the children will be able to sell and if your children are in any other class please send in some money with them on Friday so that they may buy some goodies! Please note we cannot guarantee that the cakes shown here will be on sale!!!!
After School Clubs
Mr Brown is arranging some new after school clubs, the letters will be sent out shortly. Unfortunately Mr Savin will not be able to run the Cricket Club this term, so it will not restart until the Summer Term.
There will be a dedicated After School Club page on our new website!
Tennis Club
The letter to book for the Tennis Breakfast Club may be found on this link, or by clicking the picture!
Gold Letters
Here is the up to date totals of Gold Letters per class:
Class RP - 75
Class RW - 69
Class 1D - 90
Class 1/2H - 74
Class 2B - 78
Class 3G - 40
Class 3/4P - 133
Class 4H - 135
Class 5F - 81
Class 5/6M - 113
Class 6H - 80
The Big Garden Birdwatch
Would you like to take part in the biggest wildlife survey in the world? if so click here.
The RSPB organise a survey every year to count the number of birds that you can see in your garden of simply from your window. If you have an hour to spare between the 25th and 27th January you can take part. Follow the link for all of the details.
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.
Absence through Illness
If your child is absent from school through illness, please contact the school on their first day of absence. Please also let us know when you expect your child to return to school. If there are any changes please inform us of them as soon as possible.
Contact number: 020 8478 0510
This Week's Prayer
Dear Father,
Thank you for sending your Son. Help us to be witnesses so that others will come to know his love as we do. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
God Bless You,
The St Winefride's Team