Dear Parents
Happy St Joseph’s Day! Lent has been punctuated this week with two great feast days and we have seized the opportunity in school to celebrate both! On Wednesday, we enjoyed celebrating St Patrick’s Day with the children - thank you for the lovely green additions to the children’s uniform (and hair accessories!) which brightened our day! Let’s hope by next St Patrick’s Day we will be able to get together with friends and family in a more traditional manner to celebrate!
St Joseph’s Day
Today in school we have had a big focus on St Joseph, as we are celebrating the Year of St Joseph with the Catholic Church worldwide. Father Bill (who is himself a Josephite priest https://www.josephites.org/ ) joined us this afternoon to celebrate Mass, which was streamed to the whole school. Thank you to Year 4 Coral Class who led us in our readings, prayers and singing this afternoon. We have been learning a new (to us) children’s hymn to St Joseph and the children sang it beautifully this afternoon!
Through the day, the children have been participating in a variety of exciting creative activities which have developed their learning about St Joseph and the role model he sets us for perseverance and obedience to God’s plan for our lives. These are qualities which we have all needed in abundance over the past 12 months and it has been wonderful to hear the buzz of excitement around the school from our hands-on collaborative work today! Years 4 – 6 took advantage of the sunshine this morning and the newly-laid orienteering course to complete a St Joseph’s Day scavenger hunt around the school grounds. Elsewhere, the children have been abuzz with bread-making, painting, clay and craft activities to build up the symbols of St Joseph. All of the children enjoyed iced cakes at breaktime to celebrate the feast day – Reception even had a picnic in the sunshine with their cakes! There are some photos from the day on the website here.
All classes contributed to beautiful St Joseph’s Day altars which could be seen in the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 playgrounds at the end of the day – the lilies symbolise Our Lady (Joseph’s wife Mary) and the sheaves of wheat stand for Jesus, given to us in the Eucharist. The bread is shaped into carpenter’s tools – the traditional symbol of St Joseph - while the fish stand both for the disciples of Jesus (that’s us!) and also thanksgiving for the everyday food of those simple fishermen who first followed Our Lord. To see Opal's virtual altar click here. In the Foodbank collection today, we gathered the everyday food of the 21st century to share with our community in Hersham – thank you for your generosity with this!
Parent Association – Uniform Sale
As the weather improves, you may be looking forward to the Summer Term and the start of the children officially wearing summer uniform! If you have any outgrown summer uniform in good condition, the PA are looking for donations to sell. Please place any donations in the red box just inside the door to the office as soon as possible.
The PA have already advertised their Wish and Collect scheme to order uniform which would normally be sold at the Uniform Sale – thank you for supporting their fundraising at this time! Information attached with this mailing. The PA are happy to make uniform available for free to any families who are Pupil Premium or who are struggling in these difficult times – please let Mrs Burnham or Mr Flower know if you need any help with this.
Near Miss on Arch Road
Once again this morning, there was an accident narrowly averted on Arch Road where a child who had been dropped off was almost hit by another parent’s car.
I dread the day when I am no longer writing “near miss” and “almost hit.” Nevertheless, that incident will come if we don’t make changes to our behaviour on Arch Road. That doesn’t mean other people need to change their behaviour – it means everyone. It may be less convenient or take more time, but please ask yourself, is it a better option than my child being hurt?
Please don’t drive down Arch Road.
Parking
On a similar subject…
we have had representations about parents’ parking choices from local residents by phone, by email and in person this week. We understand that there are two sides to every story, but please can all parents ensure you are parking legally and not blocking access to emergency services or to someone’s driveway / pavement.
Please use the free parking available locally – Coronation Rec and the station car park – and walk the very short distance to school. If you are able to walk / scoot / cycle, please do it.
COVID Guidance and Bubble Closures
As you heard earlier in the week, we have had one positive case of COVID from a child in school and as a result, we have closed one of the Year 4 bubbles. Opal Class are working at home with the Teams set up for remote learning as previously. These children – and staff - are self-isolating and not allowed to be in public spaces until the end of next week.
Obviously this is not a situation anyone wants to find themselves in and especially as we approach the Easter holidays, we are keen not to have to advise children and staff that they will have to spend the Easter break isolating in their homes. We therefore need to work together to prevent any further transmission outside of school which can impact on our children’s education as well as the potentially lethal health impact for more vulnerable members of society and those who have not been vaccinated.
Parents are asked to be aware that the choices we all make outside school have an impact for our whole community. Local residents have noted large numbers of our families gathering on the green or at the rec after school. For that reason, we need to remind you:
- Please remember that the Stay At Home order remains in place until 29th March.
- While outdoor exercise is allowed, social distancing guidance remains in place and numbers should be limited to two people meeting together outdoors to exercise.
- If your child is even slightly unwell, please don’t send them into school at the present time. Symptoms of COVID in young children are varied and often mild. Please do seek a test if you have any doubt about the cause of your child’s illness.
If we work together, we can limit the impact on our community locally and specifically on our children’s classmates and teachers. Thank you for supporting us to keep our children in school.
Summer Term Clubs
Information will be coming out to you next week regarding extra-curricular clubs for the Summer Term. At a time when many extra-curricular clubs remain suspended, we have taken the decision to support our children’s physical wellbeing by focussing solely on active clubs during the Summer Term. Teacher-led clubs will be available for every year group bubble either before or after school and there will be no charge for these clubs this term. We hope all children will take up this opportunity for additional outdoor activity with their classmates in the Summer Term.
Thank you for all your support for the school and for the kind messages of thanks we have received this week. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
Catherine Burnham
Headteacher
Timings of the Day:
Just a reminder of the times for drop off and pick up – please stick as closely as you can to these times to help the children to stay safe in school. No child should be on the school playground without a parent before 8:40am please.
Drop-off’s
Y6 – Arrive 8:40am,
Y2 – Arrive 8:40am
Y5 – Arrive 8:45am
Y1 – Arrive 8:45am,
Y4 – Arrive 8:50am,
Y3 – Arrive 8:50am,
YR – Arrive 8.55 am
Pick-up's
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3 pm
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Reception children and siblings PLUS Y6 children who are walking home
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3.10 pm
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Y1 children and siblings
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3.15 pm
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Y2 children and siblings
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3.20 pm
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Y3 children and siblings
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3.25 pm
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Y4 children and siblings
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3.30 pm
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Y5 children and Y6 children
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