The journey is the reward...

It’s not easy to look inside our own hearts and explore what we can each change; often it is easy to ignore the things we know we need to change and expect someone else to change instead. As we journey through our 16 virtues we are all being challenged to grow to know ourselves better as we strive to bring God’s kingdom alive here at school. Throughout the week children have explored what true wisdom brings and how being wise with our learning brings true happiness for ourselves and others.

Settling in with a smile.

It is hard to believe that our new Reception children have only been with us such a short time; already they feel like part of our school family. Miss Bassett and Miss Neves have been so impressed with their confidence and are working hard to help each child remember all those little routines and expectations. Thank you to everyone who managed to join the team on Wednesday to have another look at the classroom and our new website. We hope you found it useful.

KS1 Induction

Thank you to all those parents who attended this important session on Wednesday. It is always good to see the classroom from your child’s perspective and of course to get a sense of how learning is layered to engage and inspire. Please do have a look at the curriculum overview on the class page so that you can see the pathway of learning over the year. In responding to feedback we have now made the Homework Button more visible to support you when accessing learning at home.

Let us break bread together…

Next Friday (September 27th) our Year 6 children will be joining other Year 6 children from our deanery schools cluster to celebrate Mass together at Our Lady’s Church. This will be a lovely opportunity to share the Eucharist with other children who also have the responsibility of leading their own schools this year. The Mass will be followed by a talk on leadership and mission in the Parish Centre.

Sports News

All our sports clubs have got off to a fantastic start. Mr Nay is already so impressed with our budding athletes who are truly committed and are showing great skill. At the same time our football and netball clubs have been so well attended. I do know that all teachers have found choosing teams incredibly tricky. Dance was no different; with only 20 spaces and so many children, again decisions were difficult. It really is so lovely to see so many children wanting to belong to a club and to proudly represent the school. This has spilled over to lunchtime where Mrs Mather and Mrs Gregan have organised a feast of activities which are proving very popular with the children. We truly are becoming such an active, healthy school! Please visit the Sports section to look at the fixtures for autumn. This will help you to plan ahead.

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Office News

We are getting a little more into the swing this term with so many of you paying dinner money so promptly and thank you. We’ve been reminding parents of dinner payments where balances have been in debit - no favours have been granted and Miss Hornby has insisted that staff dinner accounts are also suspended if they get to minus £11.50! We are naming no names in the case of staff or pupils! All we ask is, please help us and pay upfront!

Our new Reception families should now have their log-ins for ParentPay and we would be very grateful if parents would open their accounts online so that they are ready to be used when required. It helps us to ensure that there are no glitches on the system so please use the codes given and log on.

Attendance

Well done to Year 3 with 100 % attendance - let’s hope that the sun is shining like it is today when you get those extra playtime minutes. 

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Finally

We are all celebrating the wonderful news that Mrs Harrison is expecting her second baby next year. Her class are already trying to decide whether she will have a boy or girl? Please keep her in your prayers.

Have a lovely weekend with your families and next week we look forward to our Year Six children's first assembly of the year, on Tuesday morning at 9:10am and 9:35am; everyone is welcome.

'In this life we can only do small things with great love'

To lead others is not always an easy task and can at times prove challenging, however it is a gift to take that responsibility and serve with gentleness, just as Jesus did. Over the last two weeks our Year 6 children have already taken hold of this responsibility and have been quietly leading us all with humility. On Monday they presented their speeches to the rest of the school, outlining why they would make successful House Captains. For some children, speaking to a large audience is a tremendous challenge and well done to those who bravely spoke up and overcame their fears. I have to say that all the children spoke with such eloquence and heartfelt honesty; one or two had to overcome technical difficulties, courageously changing their speeches at the last moment and even having the resilience to repeat sections when things went wrong! I'm so glad I didn't have to vote as I think I would have had to abstain, so difficult would it have been to make those choices!

After Mrs Gregan and I counted and verified the votes and after much discussion and thought, on Thursday, all positions of responsibility were allocated and our Board of Responsibilities in the Hall will shortly be informing everyone of the decisions made as the importance of service in school comes to life. It was inspiring to watch our Year 6 children congratulate each other as they each returned to their seats; such a great reflection of the class team they have formed.

Each class has also been busy voting for two members in their year group to represent them at our new Student Council. Classes have been running their own elections and again the children demonstrated great confidence as they made their voices heard. They too were presented with their badges; next week our Reception Councillors will be chosen.

As part of this whole process we always remind the children that all roles are important and in Mother Teresa's words: 'In this life we can only do small things with great love'.

At the other end of the school our new Reception children have entered the classroom with huge smiles and a great sense of fun. Miss Bassett and Ms Neves have fallen in love with every single child; what a beautiful class they are going to make, such characters! Miss Bassett has really enjoyed chatting with all parents and would like to thank you for giving up your time and sharing all of your anecdotes and information about your children - it's so clear how well loved and cherished they are and we love being entrusted with their care. You could not pay us a higher compliment than bringing your children to us and allowing us to teach them in partnership with you, their parents.

Of course as one new class arrives in school, a class at the top end leaves to begin a new journey and we have been delighted to hear that the Year Six leavers have settled in well at high school and indeed to have seen some of our former pupils looking very smart in their new uniforms

Induction Evenings

Thank you so much for taking time out of your evening to meet the KS2 staff in your child's new classroom and talk about expectations and plans for the year. We hope you found these sessions useful and informative and you were able to ask those questions! We know how important consistency is for every individual child and therefore clear communication between home and school is essential. Please keep asking those questions, share any positive thoughts and problem solve any concerns with us. We would ask that all forms are returned ASAP to enable us to put our systems in place and most importantly put photographs of your children actively learning onto the website! Please look out for these forms if you were unable to make the meeting. Next week (Wednesday 18th September) we will be welcoming parents from our Reception, Year 1 and 2 classes. Please do try and join us, again the meetings begin at 6pm

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Office News

Thank you to everyone for returning dinner forms etc… and for being so understanding about the need to suspend dinner accounts if they reach £11.50 debit. We’re spending so much time chasing payment with debts mounting up so our Finance Officer advised that we should take this course; evidently many schools have zero tolerance and won’t give dinners to anyone whose account has no credit. We’ve suspended quite a few staff accounts too - no teachers are yet wasting away we’re pleased to report!

Job Vacancy Breakfast & After School Club

St Thomas’ Breakfast & After School Club are looking for a new member of staff to join them at the club, if you are interested or know of anyone who may be suitable for this role please contact Mrs Sayer on 07757 360397 or pop into the club for a chat.

Attendance

Well done to everyone who has come back to school with enthusiasm and been bouncing into class bright and early ready for a good full day of learning and fun! Attendance figures have been good - Reception Class children are in for the full day as from Monday so we shall be adding their percentage in too next week- so far it is 100% for the morning children and 100% for the afternoon children but as it’s just for the half day, we didn’t count that in this week! Well done to Y4 with 99.6% since we came back on 3rd September.

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Finally

It is lovely to be back at school with your children, I know we are going to share a happy and successful year together and as we keep telling the children, we all need to make the most of every moment! Please do keep an eye on the date section to avoid missing any events and remember that the parents section is full of useful information. There are also lots of things always going on in the parish so don’t forget to take a look at the Parish Newsletter too.

Wishing you all a restful weekend.

Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.

With our first week complete, today we all reflected on what we have already achieved in just four days. In each class children spent time at the end of the day thinking about how they have returned to their learning journeys and how they are going to become learned and wise over this next half term. It was lovely to hear so many children celebrating moments when they have spotted their classmates showing resilience and love.

The start of the year is always so busy as we all try to get back into those routines and of course those early starts! To pause for a short time on Thursday, celebrating mass together gave us all the opportunity to just be in the presence of Jesus Christ. Fr Peter reminded us that we all have gifts which Jesus wants us to reveal as we travel through the year.

We have welcomed two new families into our community; Daisy and Charlie have joined Year 5 and 2 and Marwa, Aya and Shahed have joined Year 6, Year 4 and Nursery. We know you will make them all feel at home; some of these children have travelled a very long way and every smile they meet is a true gift.

Finally we would like to say a huge thank you to Mr Donnelly and Mr Luty who have been part of our school Governing Body for the last four years in their role as parent governors. They have been such wonderful ambassadors for you all and have helped to ensure Christ’s mission has been embedded in all school decisions. We now have two parent vacancies within our well established Governing Body. If interested, the process involves declaring an interest initially by Wednesday 11th September and then an election process will follow. Do have a look at the Governing Body area of the website next to the calendar then visit the school office where Mrs Hodges will provide you with further information.

Have a lovely weekend relaxing with family - we know that many of you are heading for the Kite Festival in St Annes and hope that the weather will be kind and that everyone has an enjoyable time. A perfect end to such a hardworking week!

With every choice you make, you create your life...

What a lovely start to our new school year! The children have all arrived back looking very smart and brimming with enthusiasm to continue on their learning journeys. As we reflected today we thought about the new year and reminded ourselves that every choice we make helps to creates our lives. We thought about how we are going to set goals for ourselves and what those might be. We prayed that our lives will be able to be a true reflection of God's love and asked for His support as we make choices throughout the day. Our mission is to be the hands of God as we travel through the year. We each need to use our choices to become the people God knows we can become, inspiring others to shine too, by trusting in the plan he has for each of us.

This term we are all hoping to become Learned and wise as we explore Jesus’ key messages through His Word. In every class teachers will be challenging all children to develop those important learning characteristics and then to wisely use this learning for the greater good. See if you can spot this at home too!

We know how important it is for children to settle back into school life and we also know the importance of good communication between home and school. Therefore, once again, we are holding Induction Evenings and we hope all parents will be able to join us over the next two weeks; Wednesday 11th September, at 6pm, for our KS2 parents and Wednesday 18th September, at 6pm, for our Year 1 and Year 2 parents. Miss Bassett will also be inviting parents to this evening (18th) when she will give a tour of our website for our new Reception parents. These evenings are for parents only and are always important as they provide an insight into class life; routines and systems. They also provide you with the opportunity to ask questions. All class teachers and TAs are looking forward to meeting you. We would ask that if you have two children in KS2 that you please make the Y6 Induction your priority. 

The calendar on the website is now populated with the initial dates for this term. Please take a careful look to avoid any disappointment when events are missed. We have two Open Afternoons for any parents wishing to visit the school before they apply for a place this year. These will take place on Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th October between 2-3:15pm; we will post further information on Monday.

Thank you also for all your evaluations which you returned at the end of the summer term. Your feedback is always appreciated and supports us as we continue to plan ahead guided by our school mission statement. 

We are all looking forward to an exciting term and hope that you will share each challenge and each success with us as we work together to enable every child to thrive.