4th September, 2020 

Dear Parents

Welcome back! I can’t tell you how wonderful it has been to have the hubbub of children’s voices around the school!  It is so lovely to have our school community back together again and I know the children are delighted to be back with their friends and teachers!  A huge welcome to the newest members of our community of Learners, Believers and Friends:

  • Welcome to our new Reception families who have been visiting the school for their teacher meetings this week – we are looking forward to having the children join us part-time next week and full-time from Monday 14th September
  • Welcome to new starters who have joined us in other year groups: Sofia, Michele, Giovanni, Grace and Ava
  • Welcome to Mr Matthew King who is joining us as a trainee teacher supporting in Year 6

We hope all our new starters will settle quickly and feel part of our community.  I know you will welcome them to the Cardinal Newman family – at a distance, of course!

Thank you for all your support with making the new systems work – the morning of Day 2 was certainly much calmer than the morning of Day 1 and we are all getting used to the new routines.  The children have been fantastic about settling to the new arrangements in school and we are very proud of them for adapting so quickly to the new routines! 

Please remember that our school community spans a very wide range of needs, from those who feel quite relaxed to those who had been shielding in their own homes until 1st August.  We are all at a different point in our comfort levels and it is extremely important that every member of our school community feels comfortable in the school environment.  For that reason – and to keep everyone as safe as they can be – please remember:

  • Social distancing is crucial – please keep 2 metres from anyone outside your household at all times on the school premises.
  • To support this, please use the one-way system (entry gate / exit gate) and arrive at your allocated time.
  • Try to minimise the number of adults collecting / dropping off – from Monday, only one parent should drop off (to each side of school) if possible
  • Consider using both sides of Arch Road to avoid the crush on the narrow pavements
  • As ever, please inform school if anything changes in you household’s health status

Thank you for helping us to keep everyone feeling safe and comfortable with the arrangements in place – we can only do this together. Surrey's Director of Public Health has reminded us in Elmbridge to particularly observe precautions and the information is copied below this letter.

We are sending out a link to a short podcast from Bishop Richard here, welcoming the children back to our diocesan schools.  Bishop Richard will live stream Mass for schools from the Arundel Cathedral website on Monday morning at 10 am and we will be joining him and all the other schools across the diocese.  Parents and grandparents who would like to join us are most welcome – the link is: https://arundelcathedral.uk/

We are very blessed with the support of our local clergy – Fr Bill and Fr Richard - and this has been very important for the school throughout these last difficult months.  Fr Bill, who takes care of our liturgical needs, celebrated Mass for all the staff on Tuesday at the Wintershall Estate and will celebrate Mass for Year 6 on 16th September.  Fr Richard is also very supportive of our school community and he has sent his support and best wishes as we begin another school year. 

Every time at this year, we invite applications for our children to join the school Prayer Council.  Prayer Councillors come from Years 4, 5 and 6 and wear a gold cross on their uniform to show that they belong to the council.  They undertake various responsibilities within school to support the Catholic Life of the school, such as delivering the Harvest donations to the foodbank and collecting shoeboxes for our Christmas appeal.  In addition to charitable work, they can choose to support the classes with their Prayer Tables, lead prayers in the Prayer Garden or work with Mrs Sharp on a range of projects.  Trips to Worth Abbey and Arundel Cathedral for Prayer Councillors have been available in previous years and Mrs Sharp’s thank you meetings with juice and biscuits are always popular!!  Prayer Councillors can stay on the council for three years if they choose to and last year’s councillors will be invited by Mrs Sharp to stay on for this year.  Interested children in Year 4 (and anyone from Y6 or Y5 who would like to join this year) should write to Mrs Sharp explaining what they think they could bring to the Prayer Council and why they would like to join.  We look forward to commissioning our Prayer Councillors after Mass on 15th September.

In Collective Worship this morning, we focussed on Jesus’ word to the disciples, “I will be with you always, yes to the end of the age.”  We talked about following in Jesus’ footsteps and ended with Dr Seuss’s poem Be Kind – a message for all of us as we go into this new and unusual year together as a school community:

 

Thank you again for all your messages of support.  All best wishes

Catherine Burnham

Headteacher

Note re Parking: The bays beside the school gate are now resident only in the mornings – beware!!

 

Surrey's Director of Public Health

Surrey residents have worked alongside us over the past few months to bring levels of Coronavirus down, and the overwhelming majority have listened to our advice and followed public health guidelines to help keep Surrey safe.

We are continually monitoring the data across the county, and we now need to call on residents in Elmbridge to further support us in reducing the spread of the virus. 

Surrey still has comparatively low numbers of Coronavirus infections, but we can’t be complacent. Everyone in Surrey has a role to play in slowing the spread – by keeping their distance and limiting contact with people outside their household, not meeting in groups of any larger than 6 people outdoors, washing their hands and wearing face coverings.

 

St. Erconwald's notes

  • Any families wishing to attend Sunday Mass at St Erconwald’s on Sundays need to book in advance because of limitations of capacity. All requests to be addressed to mail@sterconwalds.org.uk indicating the time of Mass and number in the family group. The 9.15 Mass is live streamed
  • Parents wishing Fr Bill to sign SIFs for entry to primary or secondary schools are asked to put them through the letter box of the side door of the priest’s house at St Erconwald’s. They will be informed once they are ready for collection. The Parish office will not be open until Monday 14th September. Therefore phone enquiries will not be answered unless a message is left.
  • First Communion 2021. The information packs will be available from Monday 14th September. They will be available for downloading from the parish web site. Hard copies can be provided on request by contacting the parish office or by email. The arrangements outlined in the packs are still tentative since we can only guess how the pandemic will develop. Children in Yr 3 and above who have not made their First Communion and are baptised Catholics are eligible.