Welcome back to Cardinal Newman for the start of our new school year. We extend a special welcome to our new families who are joining us for the first time or from other schools locally or internationally. Cardinal Newman is a very friendly and welcoming community and we are delighted to have new members of our school family this September. It has been great to welcome all of the children to their new classes and teachers and lovely to hear all the exciting tales about their summer holidays: time with family and friends, new adventures and ice cream! Ice cream seemed to figure quite a lot!
Collective Worship
This morning in Collective Worship we gave thanks for all the blessings of our summer and thought about our promises for the new academic year. The children have already worked on “Class Rules” in their new classes and we looked together at how the children can be good “Learners, Believers and Friends” as set out in our school Mission Statement.
Catholic Education
This weekend, our parishes will also give thanks for our Catholic schools and all those who support them as it is “Education Sunday.” This is a good explanation of the historical struggle to bring about Catholic schools and what we can do to support them, written by the Director of the Catholic Education Service – it is worth reading if you have a chance. As you know, we have an opportunity to come together as a school to celebrate the beginning of the school year at our “Start of Year Mass and Family Picnic” on Sunday 22 September at 12:30 on the school field. The choir will sing and the new Prayer Council will be inaugurated. Last year, we had fantastic weather and a really lovely community occasion so let’s pray for good weather this year too!
Partners in Learning
Our Partners in Learning evening is coming round fast and we are looking forward to welcoming all our families at some point on that evening. The timetable is being sent out today and it will run as usual between 6pm and 9pm. The PA is hosting drinks for new families (and anyone else who would like to pop in to meet them!) in the hall between 6:30 and 7:15 and there will also be a presentation about the new hall plans and about the diocesan RE scheme we use between 6:45 and 7:15pm. We look forward to seeing you there.
Communication
Teaching and support staff are always happy to discuss your child and their progress at any point through the school year. Mornings are busy times in schools and staff have responsibility for 30 little people (or 30 bigger people!) once the school doors open, so it may be easier to speak to a teacher at the end of the school day.
All staff are out on the playground at the end of the day, so feel free to speak to them with any queries if you are picking up. It is always better to speak to a member of staff than to allow a little niggle to become a big problem. The rainbow fence is a barrier to keep the Reception children in during free play, not a barrier to prevent parents speaking to teachers! Please just wait until the children have come out before approaching a teacher as they will be ensuring that everyone has got away safely.
The school office will always be happy to find someone if a teacher has been delayed indoors or make an appointment/pass on a message if they are not onsite that afternoon. Equally, if you are not collecting and you need to get in touch with the school for any reason, the best email address to use is the office address: office@cardinalnewmanschool.co.uk. That way, you can either make a simple query, or you can request a meeting or a phone call if you need to speak to a member of staff. Phone calls or face to face meetings are generally preferable to email for any concerns.
Uniform
Finally a thank you for sending your children back into school so smartly dressed for the beginning of term. Our uniform is very smart and the children look lovely in it. Just a reminder to make sure hair accessories are in red/navy/ white to match our school colours and that any nail varnish left from the summer holidays has been removed for school. Thank you for your help with maintaining our school standards.
We look forward to seeing you next Thursday for Partners in Learning.
All best wishes for the weekend.
Catherine Burnham
