Thank you to all parents who attended the Partners in Learning meeting last night – the turnout was great and it was really lovely to see so many of you around school, looking in the classrooms and chatting to staff. Parents who spoke to me said it was a very helpful and informative evening. If you didn’t make it last night, do keep an eye on the website as we will aim to get slides and handouts on there as much as possible. Thank you also to those who attended Mrs Sharp’s talk about RE at Cardinal Newman – the “Come and See” overview will be on the website and there is a parent newsletter coming out soon, so keep an eye out for that too!
Our Chair of Governors, Mrs Sarah Rice, presented the proposed hall extension plans at the meeting and governors were in the hall to answer questions. As you know, the hall extension will cost around £500k, of which the school must fund £50k from the Governors' Fund. The Governors' Fund is made up entirely of parent contributions and a huge thank you to those who already support this fund. At present the fund cannot yet cover even half of the £50k required and so governors are seeking to increase the fund through further donations. If you have never got round to setting up the standing order, maybe now might be the time to do that. Forms are available from the office and on our website (Standing Order - Gift Aid). If you missed the presentation, the slides will also available on the website.
As mentioned last week, our Start of Year Mass and Family Picnic will take place on Sunday 22 September at 12:30. The new Prayer Council will be inaugurated at that time and receive their badges from Fr Richard. Before that time, we need to select some Prayer Council members! In assembly this week, children in Years 3 – 6 were invited to apply to join the Prayer Council by writing me a letter explaining why they would like to take part. Prayer Council members support the school with prayer and worship (eg organising activities for the younger children, leading prayer for other pupils, distributing ashes on Ash Wednesday), support the teachers with displays and maintenance of the Prayer Garden and also lead on fundraising and service activities such as the Operation Christmas Child Appeal and Sal’s Shoes initiatives. Those who are already Prayer Council members are warmly encouraged to reapply and new members are most welcome. Letters should reach me by the end of the day on Monday if possible.
Further to our email this week, just to reiterate that all scooters should be parked by the rainbow fence on the right as you come through the playground gate and no child (or adult!) should be using a scooter in the playground. This is for Health and Safety reasons as an adult was hurt during a collision with a scooter earlier in the week. Thank you for your support in keeping our playground a safe place for everyone.
Finally, our first certificate of the new academic year. Following a lot of behind the scenes work by Mrs Kareem (Music Lead) and our class teachers during the Summer Term - we are proud to have been awarded the Music Mark for our Music provision in school. We are delighted to have achieved this and look forward to continuing to improve our Creative Arts provision throughout the coming terms
All best wishes for the weekend. Let’s hope the sunshine stays with us!
With best wishes
Catherine Burnham
