Dear Parents and Carers

We made it!  Looking back on a long and busy term, we have much to celebrate at Cardinal Newman.  Thank you for all that you have each done to support our children to succeed across so many different areas of school life.

We have been working hard this term to ensure that our excellent Reading results translate into children who enjoy both reading and writing for pleasure.  From the successful introduction of Read Write Inc for our youngest children to the expansion of our Accelerated Reader scheme for our older readers, it has been great to see immense progress both in reading skills and in love for reading this term!  I was especially delighted to see 100% of our Key Stage 2 children achieving the “Ready Reader” level this term – with two children already having achieved the end of year level for Reading! Meanwhile in Key Stage 1, 100% have achieved progress in Reading, with some moving from knowing only sounds to reading books fluently this term!  Well done to all of them!  Next term will bring opportunities for parents and carers to attend Reading Workshops for children of all ages, to understand how best to support our children with this very important skill.

This term has also brought a wealth of opportunities in extra-curricular activities, from our sporting teams competing at football (girls and boys), rugby, hockey, netball and cross country to our musical opportunities including the choir performing at the Royal Albert Hall.  We were delighted that every child in school had the opportunity to have their artwork on public display at the Riverhouse Barn art gallery in Walton – and the feedback from the public (and from delighted grandparents and parents!) gave a real boost to our children’s confidence in art.  On Tuesday, we celebrated the wealth of clubs at Cardinal Newman with a showcase including skills as diverse as Judo and Ukelele; Italian and Ballet; Music Ensemble and Irish Dancing – all of the children participating were pleased to demonstrate their most recently learned skills, while the audience were most appreciative of the entertainment!

Of course, we always encourage our community of learners, believers and friends to look beyond themselves and find ways of serving others with the skills and talents they have.  This term, our children have especially focussed on giving to others – many of our Key Stage Two children are part of the school Prayer Council and they have given up parts of their lunchtimes to support projects for others, including making sweet treats and Christmas cards for the residents of Whiteley Village; wrapping Christmas gifts for members of a local lunch club for the elderly and housebound; and preparing donations for the Stripy Stork charity which supports local families in need as well as supporting Fr Ruslan’s initiative to provide warm clothing to Ukrainian orphans.  Our Prayer Council members have visited the local charities with our donations and our choir visited Sherwood House (a local care home) to entertain the residents there.  In all of this, we know our children have been profoundly moved by the impact of their giving on others – we pray that these lessons will be among the most powerfully learned during their time at Cardinal Newman.

As we approach the end of Advent, there are, as always, one or two small changes in our community for the New Year.  Miss Catherine Stainton (Year 3 teacher) is leaving us to go travelling in the New Year – we have been immensely proud of all Miss Stainton’s achievements since she joined us as a newly qualified teacher and we hope she may return to us when her travelling days are done!  Mrs Sarah Pavey (Year R Learning Support Assistant) is also stepping back from full-time work after 18 years supporting our young learners – we are pleased that she has agreed to remain on a supply basis, so we will see her around when our need is greatest!  We also say goodbye to Miss Aleksandra Sluzarcyk (Whizz Kids Playworker) who is a former pupil of Cardinal Newman and is now pursuing a career in Nursery care.

In the New Year, we will be welcoming (And welcoming back!) some new faces.  We are delighted that Mrs Kathryn Gautheron has returned from France in time to join us again, taking over the Year 3 class currently taught by Miss Stainton.  We welcome two new learning support assistants with prior experience in the role – Mrs Kim Salmon and Mrs Sarah Wright will be joining us to support our children in the New Year.  We are also delighted to have recruited Miss Talia Sinnah (Another former Cardinal Newman and Salesian pupil!) to the role of Playworker in Whizz Kids.  There is much to look forward to in the New Year.

As we approach Christmas, I wish you and your families a very happy and blessed time – do make the most of the many opportunities to be together, creating memories and family traditions which will last a lifetime.  Both of our school parishes have Christmas Masses aimed at children (Details below).  As we approach this special day, let us remember the words of our patron Cardinal St John Henry Newman:

“May each Christmas, as it comes, find us more and more like Him, who at this time became a little child for our sake.”

God bless you and your families during this festive season.

Catherine Burnham

Headteacher

Christmas Mass times locally: