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20th February 2015

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Dear Parents/Guardians,

Two Heads are Better than One: As you will already be aware, Miss Endsor, Mrs Field, Mr Grattidge and Mrs Harlow work very closely as a leadership team and the school has benefited in many respects from this collegiate approach. We are now taking this a stage further in that Mr Grattidge and Mrs Field are becoming Co-Headteachers. On days that Mrs Field is not on site Mr Grattidge will be the Headteacher. Parents and children are unlikely to notice any difference as they already know that they can go to anyone of the Leadership Team. You may also be aware that there is a shortage of Headteachers, particularly in Catholic schools. This approach has already proven to be very successful in a number of schools for providing stability for the school and for nurturing Headteachers for the future.

Wednesday Word : As part of deepening our faith and parish links, starting on Wednesday 5th March, children from Y4 and Y5 will be bringing ‘The Wednesday Word’ leaflet home from school. Every Wednesday, a ‘word’ (inspired by the Sunday Gospel) will be suggested for you and your family to talk about in your home. We have structured this new weekly Family Time around the Sunday Gospel because evidence shows that Gospel values really do help family relationships to thrive.

Parent Council: Mrs Lobb, due to her other commitments, is stepping down as Chair of the Parent Council. We would like to thank Mrs Lobb for all her support and to all the other parents who have served on the Parent Council over the last few years. Recruiting parents to the Parent Council has not been easy, due to the many commitments of our busy parents and finding a time that suits both parents and school. We have decided that, at this

stage, the Parent Council has run its course. This is not to say, however, that we do not want to hear our parent voice, far from it, we view our partnership with our parents as a strength of our school. In order to ensure that we do hear your views please could we ask parents that if you are particularly pleased with an aspect of school, or if you have concerns, or a suggestion for further improvements, that you let us know, either by emailing or dropping a note into the office. We will share our thoughts about your comments on the newsletters.

We are also introducing a termly coffee afternoon for parents and parishioners. The first one is on Thursday 12th March at 2:00pm.This will be an informal drop-in for parents and parishioners, giving them a chance to have a chat and catch up with each other. Mrs Wilcox , Fr Slavek and Tom Vause from English Martyrs and members of the leadership team will also be available if anyone wishes to talk to them informally.

Procedures for raising concerns about individual children remains the same. If you have concerns about your own child please go to the Classteacher, if they are unable to resolve your concerns to your satisfaction either ask for it to be raised with a member of the Leadership Team or let the office know that you would like to speak to one of us. All our staff are committed to open channels of communication with our parents and will be happy to arrange to meet with you – you do not have to wait for Parents Evening to raise concerns. Do also use the home school dairy if you wish to pass messages on to us. Mrs Wilcox, as you know, is always on hand to listen to parents about any concerns they have either to do with school, or things at home that is affecting their children

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Emails: In an effort to make it even easier for parents to access information Mrs Harlow has begun to attach letters to the Group-Calls. She would welcome feedback from parents please.

Parents’ Afternoon/Evening: A letter has already been sent to parents about this. These meetings are really important to your child’s progress so do please arrange an appointment. Each teacher has to keep tightly to time – they cannot allocate more than 10 minutes per child. If you know there are issues you wish to raise please let the teacher know in advance through the home/.school diary. This gives the teacher time to give your concerns careful consideration and makes the meeting more effective. Books will be available for parents to look at and it is advisable to arrive early enough to look at them before your meeting with their teacher. It is essential that your child is with you as the meeting is about them and their progress,

Calling all children who have already received their First Holy Communion- Altar Servers wanted! If your child has already made their First Holy Communion Fr Mark would love for them to offer to serve on the Altar in English Martyrs. Do please consider enabling your child to offer themselves for the very important role of Altar Server by taking them to Mass at the weekend. Weekend Mass times are normally 18:30pm on Saturday evening and 10:30am on Sunday morning.

Read for my school: See if you can get some extra reading in and increase our chances of winning a prize for the school. This is a reading competition for KS2 children. The children can access the website www.readformyschool.co.uk and use their bug club passwords which are written in their diaries. This will count as their reading homework.

Anne Eames: We would like to buy a remembrance plaque for Anne Eames and intend to hold a Liturgy in thanksgiving for Mrs Eames’ life on the afternoon of Friday June 5th. If any parents would like to make a donation towards this, please send it in a marked envelope to the office. Thank you.

After School Clubs – there are a few places available in the following clubs. The Clubs are great value at only £3:00 - the school does not make any profit on these clubs

Mon - Mulitsports - Yr R & Yr1 (1space)

Tues - Hockey - Yrs 2,3 & 4 (10 spaces)

Wed - Film Club - Yrs 1-6 (7 spaces)

Thurs - Cheerleading Yrs 1 - 6 (13 spaces)

Active Kids Sainsbury’s vouchers :Please help the school to collect as may vouchers as we can to help provide the children with additional sports equipment.

Congratulations to Mrs Moore: for winning High St vouchers for completing and returning Chartwell's National School week questionnaire.

Scarlet fever warning

Public Health England is informing schools of a recent national increase of scarlet fever being reported Scarlet fever is a Common childhood infection; symptoms may include sore throat, headache, fever, nausea and vomiting. After 12 to 48 hours the characteristic red, generalised pinhead rash develops, typically first appearing on the chest and stomach, rapidly spreading to other parts of the body, giving the skin a sandpaper-like texture. Patients typically have flushed cheeks and pale complexion around the mouth. This may be accompanied by a ‘strawberry tongue’. Patients can develop complications such as an ear infection, throat abscess, pneumonia, sinusitis or meningitis in the early stages. Please seek medical advice if you feel that your children are displaying any signs or symptoms of this disease.

First Holy Communion 21st June 2015: There is a meeting for parents and children on Wednesday 25th February at 6:30pm in the Church hall. Forms are available from the school office or the Church.

Diary Dates:

26th February – Parent Lunch Yr 4 @ 11:45am

2nd March – Book Week – Dads & Grandads day – (separate letter sent out)

3rd March – Parents aft/eve 1:30pm-8.00pm

12th March – Parent/Parish Social @ 2:00pm in school – All welcome

12th March – P.T.F.A. Disco 5:15 KS1 6:45 KS2

20th March – Knowledge House Mass @ 2:10pm in school

15th March – Whole School Mass @ English Martyrs@10:30am

26th March - Yr4/5 Easter Liturgy @ 09:30am

27th March - Achievement Assembly KS2 @ 09:15am, KS1 approx @ 10:45am

27th March – Break up for Easter

13th April – Return back to school

INSET Dates 14/15

1ST June 2015

29th June 2015

On behalf of all the staff

E.Field, J.Grattidge, P.Harlow, C.Endsor

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