Dear Parents/Carers,
Next week is very important and special as we celebrate St Joseph’s Day on Thursday and our Spring Book Fair arrives on Wednesday. We will also be continuing our Lenten fundraising for CAFOD with our “Yellow Day” on Friday. Of course all our forward planning may change any day with the ongoing issues around the spread of the Coronavirus in the UK.
St Joseph’s Day (Thursday 19th March)
We will be celebrating St Joseph’s Day next Thursday 19th March. This will include a Whole School Mass at 11:15am led by Year 4, the visit from our Olympic Athlete in the morning with the sponsored fitness routine and then a Sports and Games afternoon with a range of activities for the children led by PTC Sports. We will also be serving free refreshments during the afternoon and if any parents can help next Thursday day afternoon that would be great. Please note that the Mass will not be a joint Mass with the Infant School in church as originally planned but will be here at the slightly later time of 11:15am. Pupils should be in full school uniform on Thursday but will need their PE kits for the sponsored event in the morning and the activities in the afternoon.
Masses and Assemblies
As mentioned above, we will be holding a Whole School Mass for St Joseph’s Day on Thursday 19th March at 11:15am in the main hall (not church) led by our Year 4 classes. A huge well done to our Year 6 pupils who attended the special Deanery Mass for all the Catholic schools in Waltham Forest yesterday in St Joseph’s Church. A special mention to the Year 6 RE Ambassadors who wrote and then read their bidding prayers at the Mass and impressed everyone.
Coronavirus
I will keep you updated if anything changes in the next few days. It is a rapidly changing situation and we are taking the normal precautions in school while keeping abreast of the national developments. At this moment we are not planning to cancel any events or school trips but this may change. We will be guided by advice from both the local authority and government.
Consultation
Following a request from some parents, we will hold an extra meeting on the proposed consultation at a later time in the day. It will be next Monday 16th March at 7:00pm in the main hall. This will still leave a week before the consultation period ends on 23rd March for parents to get their responses in.
Friends’ Association
We held the “Have a Heart Family Quiz Night” to raise money to buy a defibrillator for the school and local community. With the money raised on Saturday, the £160 donation from Your Move Estate Agents plus donations from some parents who were not able to come on Saturday evening, we will now be able to bank around £600 towards the total cost. If anyone else would like to make a donation towards the cost of the defibrillator, that would be gratefully received by the Friends.
Visit from GB Volleyball Player and Sponsored Event (19th March)
We sent home sponsor forms last week for our special morning of St Joseph’s Day on Thursday 19th March when the school will be hosting a GB Volleyball player as part of the Sports for Schools Scheme. Peter Bakare will be here to work with the children in a series of fitness circuits in the hall followed by a 30 minute assembly where Peter will talk to the children about his life and the hard work needed to be a top athlete. The money raised will be split 60% to the school to buy sports equipment and 40% to Sports for Schools to cover their costs and help support the athlete in his training. Please help your child to collect sponsors before the day. All the children will take part in the fitness circuits on the day.
Spring Book Fair
Our Spring Book Fair will be arriving next week and we will be selling books from Thursday 19th March to Tuesday24th March from 8:10-8:50am in the school library. This will be an opportunity for the children to buy books at reduced prices and they can also use their “World Book Day” tokens towards the cost of books.
Uniform
Uniform will next be on sale next Wednesday 25th March from 8:50-9:30am and will be the final opportunity to buy uniform this term.
Lenten Fundraising for CAFOD
As part of our Lenten fundraising we will be holding our popular colour themed non-uniform days each Friday during Lent up till the end of term. The children can wear their own clothes as normal in return for bringing their £1 and we have a colour theme each week with a prize for the most colourful class. Friday 20th March – “Yellow Day”, Friday 27th March – “Blue Day”. We will also be holding other fundraising events this half term including a sponsored walk at the end of term.
Consultation Meetings
At this moment we are still planning to hold the Spring Term Parental Consultation Meetings on Monday 23rd March from 1:00-3:00pm and 4:00-6:00pm. However as the situation with Coronavirus changes day by day, this is something we will need to review and either confirm or postpone till a later date.
Class of the Week
Class 6C and 6P were both Class of the Week for representing the school so well at the Deanery Mass at St Joseph’s Church this week.
Attendance and Punctuality
Well done to Class 5L who had the best attendance this week with 100% and to Class 3K who had the best punctuality with 99.5%.
Bikeabilty Training
24 of our Year 5 pupils had the opportunity this week to improve their Level 1 and 2 cycling skills and learn about cycle safety with the trainers from the Bikeability Group. There will also be Level 1 training for up to 30 pupils in Years 3 and 4 on 25th and 26th March. There were originally only 24 places available on this course but we had 30 forms back so the Bikeability Group have kindly agreed to train all 30 pupils on 25th and 26th March which is great.
Lettings
Just to remind everyone that the school is available for lettings this year at very competitive prices. If you would like to book the hall etc. for a party or family event or know of someone who is looking for a venue, please contact the school. The summer term in particular is very popular for bookings e.g. First Communion parties, so I would recommend getting in touch as soon as you have a date in mind.
Easter Sports Club (6th-9th April)
We will be holding an Easter Sports Club during the first week of the holidays from Monday 6th April to Thursday 9th April (Friday 10th April is Good Friday). The club is being run by PTC Sports who are already working in school on Mondays and will be running our activity afternoon on St Joseph’s Day. We will shortly be sending out fliers for the club so that you can book places for your child. There are only 40 places available so I would suggest that when you receive the flier from PTC Sports, you book quickly to guarantee a place.
Piano Lessons
Piano lessons for 20/30 minutes each week are offered during school hours and at home by arrangement, from beginners up to Grade 5. For more details, contact Tracy Swart on 078 945 80286.
Yours sincerely,
J Alexander (Head teacher)
Future Dates for your Diary
- Monday 16th March – Meeting on the proposed federation in the main hall 7:00pm
- Thursday 19th March – Scholastic Book Fair begins each day before school
- Thursday 19th March – Mass for St Joseph’s Day in the hall led by Y4 11:15am (not in the church as previously advertised)
- Thursday 19th March – Visit from GB Volleyball Player for sponsored event am
- Thursday 19th March – Sports/Activity Afternoon run by PTC Sports
- Friday 20th March – Non-uniform day for CAFOD’s Lenten Appeal (“Yellow Day”)
- Friday 20th March – School hosting an RCE Conference in the main hall today
- Monday 23rd March – Consultation on the proposed Hard Federation ends today
- Monday 23rd March – Parental Consultation Meetings (1:00-3:00pm/4:00-6:00pm)
- Wednesday 25th March – Year 6 trip to Harry Potter World
- Wednesday 25th March – Bikeability cycle training for Year 3 and 4 pupils (2 days)
- Thursday 26th March – Book Fair ends today
- Friday 27th March – Non-uniform day for CAFOD’s Lenten Appeal (“Blue Day”)
- Friday 27th March – Year 3 trip to Mountfitchet Castle
- Monday 30th March – German teacher in school this week (UK/German Connection)
- Monday 30th March – Lenten Reconciliation Service am
- Tuesday 31st March – Year 5 Easter Production 11:00am
- Wednesday 1st April – Year 5 Easter Production 7:00pm
- Thursday 2nd April – Class and group photographs am
- Thursday 2nd April – Sponsored walk for CAFOD pm (to be confirmed)
- Friday 3rd April – Last day of term including Lenten Service led by Year 3 am (school ends at 2:00pm today)
- Monday 6th April to Thursday 9th April – Easter Sports Club run by PTC Sports
- Monday 20th April – First day of summer term
