News - 4th July 2024

Dear Parents/Carers,

As we approach the final weeks of this academic year, I am delighted to share with you the latest updates and achievements from our vibrant school community. Despite the imminent end of term, our school continues to buzz with activity and excitement.
Pupils have been busy in and out of school, with some of the highlights including, Y4 trip to the beach, Y2 trip to Arundel Castle, Y5 woodland trip to Surrey Hills, Y5 taster days in Bohunt and Woolmer Hill, Y3 ‘Feet First’ road safety training in the village and KS1 confederation sports morning.

One of the pinnacles of our calendar is fast approaching – our school production of The Wizard of Oz. The entire school is abuzz with preparations, from learning lines and perfecting songs to crafting props and we eagerly anticipate the live performances scheduled for the 11th and 12th of July.

This week, we held our annual Moving Up Day, and I'm thrilled to report that it was an overwhelming success. Our children demonstrated remarkable maturity and independence as they familiarised themselves with their new surroundings and met their future teachers. It was truly heartening to witness their adaptability and enthusiasm for the next chapter of their educational journey. This transition day is a crucial step in preparing our pupils for the coming academic year, and I'm immensely proud of how well they handled this change.
In our ongoing commitment to providing the best possible support for all our students, I'm pleased to announce that our entire staff recently completed comprehensive ADHD training. This professional development initiative equips our team with the latest strategies and insights to effectively support children with ADHD, both in and out of the classroom. We believe this will significantly enhance our ability to create an inclusive and nurturing learning environment for all our pupils.

In Year 6, as well as rehearsing for the school production, pupils have also completed bikeability and visited their new schools.

The Year 6 teachers recently underwent moderation, and I'm delighted to inform you that all of our assessments were confirmed and agreed upon. This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of Miss Hampshire and Mrs Norton. I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to them for their meticulous preparation for this important meeting. Their efforts ensure that our pupils' achievements are accurately recognised as they prepare to transition to secondary education.

Looking ahead, we're excited to welcome our new sports providers, Primary Sports Development, to our school. They will be joining us at our staff meeting this week to discuss the sports syllabus and after-school football sessions. On Monday, they will have the opportunity to meet the children during assembly, introducing themselves and sharing their vision for sports at St Mary's.

We're also working diligently to enhance our lunchtime offerings for pupils. Our aim is to provide a diverse range of structured activities during play sessions. These will include library book clubs, lunchtime football, computing sessions, board games, crafts, and an exciting new addition – a mud kitchen for all children to enjoy. To bring this mud kitchen to life, we're organising a working party to create a purposeful outdoor area behind the outside sheds. While we already have a few volunteers, we would be incredibly grateful for additional help. If you're available on Saturday, 13th July at 9:30 am, we'd love to have you join us. To fuel our hardworking volunteers, we'll be providing bacon butties, coffee, and tea. Please let the office know if you intend to join us.

Thank you for your continued partnership in your children's education. I look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming events.

Warm regards,
Mrs Buckley, Headteacher

COLOUR RUN FOR KEY STAGE 2:

Please remember if you wish your child to take part in the Colour Run, payment is made on Scopay prior to the event. This also acts as consent for your child to participate.

If you have not made payment, we will assume you do not wish for your child to take part.

SCO PAY
Please review Scopay for any outstanding payments due for school trips and money owed for school lunches/Breakfast Club.
Please ensure that Scopay is updated by midday on Wednesdays for lunch choices for the following week.

MEDICINES
Please can you collect any medicine, pills, epipens, etc from the school office before the end of term.
Any over the counter medicines left will be thrown away.

A reminder to also return any allergy/medical forms to the office ASAP ready for the start of next term.

LOST PROPERTY:
The bucket will be put outside, in the playground so please check for any missing items. Anything not claimed by the end of term will be donated. If you can ensure all items of clothing, lunch boxes, water bottles, etc are named for September this will help alleviate many unclaimed items!

CATERLINK AND ALLERGY MENUS
Please ensure that if your child has an allergy listed with the school, that medical evidence is provided as soon as possible. This can then be passed onto Caterlink to create a suitable menu.

SCHOOL FUND:
On a termly basis, we ask for a small contribution per family in order to support some of the extended opportunities that we provide. This may be used for additional resources for specific resources i.e. Art or a piece of equipment to be used by pupils on the school site.
In today’s economic climate, I am aware that parents are concerned about requests for financial support from schools. However, the reality of the situation is that, like all schools, in our latest budget we have had to make significant savings, which reflect reduction in our funding allocation from central government. It is only through continued careful management of resources that we have been able to afford to do this and protect the core curriculum resources.

With this in mind, your on-going support for the school fund would help us to continue to support these additional resources. For the academic year 2024 – 2025, we would like to ask each family to contribute £25 per term; however, anything you can contribute would be gratefully received. Payment can be made on Scopay. Thank you for your continued support.

St. Mary’s School Vision

Reflecting virtues of Mary, our vision is for everyone to be inspired to blossom and grow, fulfilling their potential in all aspects of life. By exploring the Christian values of wisdom, hope, respect and community, our pupils understand the importance of being respectful, resilient social advocates, building a better world.