Our school is the same as every house this Advent, quietly being decorated ready for the coming of Christmas in a few weeks time. For those of you who have been in school for our nativities, you will have seen the beautifully lit Christmas tree in the corner; but you will not have seen the prayer stations that are dotted around the school. Each class has been responsible for part of our prayer pilgrimage, each representing part of the nativity story. Over the last week, the children will be completing the pilgrimage with their partner class, taking a moment of quiet reflection when they pause. At the front of the hall is our giant Advent wreath. Each one of the hand prints is by each of our children with their promise for Advent written on them - as we make pledges in our Year of Hope - we too make a pledge at Advent. Our Mini-Vinnies continue to inspire and promote kindness in our school. This year they have made a kindness calendar with 24 ways in which we can be kind to one another this Christmas time.
“What am I going to be? In this year’s Nativity?”
Stars…that is what our KS1 children are. All stars! I have never seen a nativity like it, and I don’t think I will see one again. This was spectacular in every sense of the word. There is a magic about being in a primary school during Christmas time and so many memories to be made. It is certainly times like this one that I miss being a class teacher - and classes like these two as well. Our Year 1 and 2 children rose to every challenge and produced the most heart warming of plays. Just like our donkey told us, it was full of sunshine and happiness. Whether the child was a tree, an angel or a king - the part didn’t matter - the storytelling did. The children worked so hard as one big team and I could not be prouder of them all.
Next Tuesday we will complete our journey to the stable in church with our KS2 children. For the first performance, we will be walking down to church at 1.30pm for a 2pm start. If you are able to walk with us, please join us at school first. Then we will gather at night time for the evening performance in the darkness of the church. All KS2 children need to arrive at church, in full school uniform, after 5:40pm on Tuesday, for a 6pm start. The doors will only be open at this time so please wait patiently outside and in a calm manner.
Bake Off
Thank you to everyone who has supported our Christmassy Bake Off this year! We have been inundated with bakes and cakes, biscuits and treats - and they have been delightful! Judging has been very hard this year! Appearance, taste, texture and Christmas fun was all taken into account when deciding. Boxed up cake was for sale after school and all donations will support our school. So far over £730 has been raised! Thank you all for your generous donations.
Well done to our Bake Off Winners for this year!
Guess the name of the elf…don’t forget we still have names left. £1 a go!
Star Virtue and Learners of the Week
Online Safety and Smartphone Free Childhood Campaign
A few weeks ago, I spoke about the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign; a national campaign by where we are trying to delay the age that a child receives a smart phone and the age that a child accesses social media. I have had so many positive conversations with parents around this and the pressure that they feel from their children as a result of their peers. Austrailia has been in the news this week with their monumental decision to ban social media until a child is at least 16. It is incredibly current and on the run up to Christmas, I can imagine that a smartphone will feature on a child’s Christmas list.
As a team of Local Heads, this is something that we are really passionate about and we want to create healthy habits for our young people as they leave us and move to high school. We are also working with St Bedes and LSA on this campaign. We have therefore discussed streamlining our approaches and moving towards being smartphone free schools. Some schools are already there and no phones are allowed for their young people - we will be moving towards this point eventually. Walking home with a phone is making a child more vulnerable not less. Following the meeting with Local Heads, this was then discussed with our Governing Board as part of our safeguarding strategy and a new policy was determined.
New routine for after Christmas…
After Christmas, for those children who walk home in Year 5 & 6, and therefore may be bringing a phone into school, these will now no longer be kept in the classroom by their class teacher; they will be kept in the school office. Before your child comes into school with their phone, it must be dropped at the office first via the front door to the school - they can then enter the gates to their classrooms. This way, there will be no phones coming through school with a child. At the end of the day, they will then return to the school office via the front door to collect their phone. New phone letters will be sent home next week with this policy included so everyone is aware and we can start the new year correctly. We will be moving next year to a smart phone free school from September 2026.
School Office News
Our raffle is ready to be drawn on Wednesday, and below you will find the extensive list of prizes to be won!
There is no ALL STARS next Friday as we finish for Christmas at 2pm.
Can everybody who needs an ALL STAR place for Spring now rebook on the form below.
Whole School Attendance
Lunches for next week…
As we come to the end of the term, the kitchen needs to make sure that everything is used ready to start a fresh in the New Year. We have therefore tweaked lunches for next week to use what we have.
Monday - Brunch or Pasta
Tuesday - Beef Chilli Taco or Jacket Potato
Wednesday - CHRISTMAS DINNER
Thursday - Sausages & wedges or Jacket Potato
Friday - Fish Fingers or Pizza
Don’t forget to order snacks for next week - bacon butties are available on Thursday!
I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend with your family.
God bless you all
Mrs Gregan