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News & Events

No. 290 - 24 February

Dear Parents and Carers,

We’ve had a brilliant first week back after the half term break. The children seem very well rested and ready for hard work! It makes such a difference when they’re not too tired – thank you for continuing to make sure that they get early nights and plenty of sleep. It’s very noticeable that as the weeks go by and we get nearer to the holidays, the children inevitably become a little more weary. Sometimes when we’re tired, we forget to be kind to each other! It’s lovely to enjoy happy, forgiving friendships and positive playtimes, especially with Spring and warmer weather around the corner. We’ll all be enjoying our outside spaces so much more in the weeks and months ahead.

Year 5 enjoyed a trip to the Hindu temple in Neasden this week. Their respectful attitudes and positive approach were commented on by the staff there. How lovely to be known as being a school that promotes such wonderful intellectual curiosity, and politeness! Thank you so much to the parent helpers that took part in the visit; as always, we really appreciate your involvement in this aspect of school life. If you haven’t ever been on a school trip, do look ahead on the calendar, get in touch with your child’s teacher, and book some time off to come along.

At the infants, we hosted a visit from some of the staff at Little Wandle, our phonics scheme providers. They were checking that we deliver the programme effectively and gave us some super feedback about the love of reading and the children’s zest for learning that they saw. It was really encouraging for us to show off how brilliantly our staff value the teaching of reading. And they loved how well resourced we are with new decodable books and phonics teaching materials. Thank you so much to FOPS for helping us fund all these purchases!

Next week, we begin our parent consultations for the spring term, first at the juniors, and then the following week at Pewley. We’re all looking forward to being able to celebrate the progress that your children have made. If you haven’t yet made an appointment, do get in touch with the office teams who will be able to help you. This term is always when we see the most achieved, with the children really settled in their classes, great relationships made between them and their teachers, and a sense of determination in place as they rise to the challenge of new learning. Coming to chat about this with their teacher is a great way to encourage them to keep it up, so thank you for making these meetings a priority. As ever, remember that each appointment is only ten minutes; if you need longer than this, you’re welcome to book another meeting at a later date. We work really hard to keep to time so that later appointments don’t run late, so please try hard to be on time. I hope you enjoy the opportunity to hear about how they’re getting on!

With love,

Clare

Thought of the week: The Magic of Thankfulness. Who do you need to say thank you to? Jesus heals the ten lepers.

Infant

Book Swap, Thursday 2 March

To celebrate World Book Day we will be holding a book swap next Thursday. Children can bring in a book to swap from Monday (if they would like to take part). The book swap will take place in class.

Parent Consultations, Tuesday 7 & Thursday 9 March

The ParentMail booking system will be live from 6pm tomorrow, 25 March. More details about the parent consultations in Clare’s letter above.

Teacher-led clubs

There will be no teacher-led clubs in the week beginning 6 March owing to the parent consultations.

Menu: Week 1 beginning 27 February.


FOPS News

Hi everyone,

We hope you had a great half term! A few updates for this week to share with you:

Sponsored Read

Thank you to everyone who has donated money towards new books to the school and well done to all the children who took part in the sponsored read over the half term holiday! There is still time if you’d still like to donate towards new books at Pewley, please click on the link below before midnight if you’d like to help. Any amount is really appreciated. https://www.collectionpot.com/pot/3070869

Coronation Party

We have some exciting news! We have decided to organise a party to celebrate the King’s Coronation. The family event will take place at Pewley school on Saturday 29th April and will include food, drinks, crafts and games. More details will follow but if you’d like to help organise the event or help on the day please speak to your class rep. All money raised will go towards much needed air conditioning for the upstairs classrooms.

Groundforce Day

We would love you to join us to do some planting and general tidying up of the exterior of the school on the morning of April 22nd, which happens to be World Earth Day! Teas, coffees and biscuits will be provided and you can stay for as little or as long as you’d like. Your help really makes a difference, so please come along if you’re free.

Finally thank you so much to all those that baked, brought or bought for the very last minute bake sale before we broke up for half term, to raise money for the relief effort in Turkey and Syria. An incredible £500 was raised and donated to the appeal.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Sally and Eleanor x

Junior

Dates for the diary

  • Tuesday 28 February & Thursday 2 March - Parents Evening Meetings
  • Thursday 2 March - World Book Day - Book swap at lunchtime

All teacher led Clubs cancelled week beginning 27 February due to Parents Evening /Sportshall Practice.

Only teacher led clubs running next week are:

  • Monday – Hockey
  • Wednesday – Almost Science club (registered children)
  • Friday – Y3 Dodgeball

Lunch – Week 1 Menu commencing Monday 27 February. 

Holy Trinity Sports fixtures and Clubs 

Please return all HT sports kit to the office - we have lots of fixtures coming up and not much kit in the cupboard.

Tuesday 28 February - Y6 Netball v QE at QE

The teams have been sent out on ParentMail.  Please collect from QE at 4.30pm

Wednesday 1 March - Y5 Netball v QE at HT

The teams have been sent out on ParentMail.  Please collect from HT at 4.30pm

Thursday 2 March - Y3 & Y4 Sportshall Athletics

The teams have been sent out on ParentMail. Please arrive at school at 8.15am and go to the Chapel. The coach leaves at 8.30am

Monday 6 March - Y5 & Y6 Netball Tournament at George Abbott

The teams have been sent out on ParentMail. Pick up at George Abbott at 5pm

Tuesday 7 March - Y3, Y4, Y5 & Y6 XC at St Cat's

The teams have been sent out on ParentMail. Pick up at St Cat's at 4.45pm

Thursday 9 March - Y5 & Y6 Sportshall Athletics - County Finals

The teams have been sent out on ParentMail.  Please collect from Spectrum at 3.30pm

Saturday 11 March - Y5 & Y6 Surrey School Athletics Association Primary School XC at The Priory, Reigate

The teams have been sent out on ParentMail.


The Cake Sale on 3 February raised a whopping £370.65 to support the victims of the Turkey-Syrian earthquake. This money was donated to Disaster Emergency Committee and the amount will be matched pound for pound by the UK Government! 

A HUGE thank you to everyone that baked or brought in cakes (especially the amazing baking team!) and everyone that volunteered and contributed on the day. A great effort by all in such short notice! 


HTSC News

Quiz Night!

  • We are very excited to announce that we will be holding a Quiz Night (for Adults)
  • Please save the date for 24th March from 7:30pm- 10:30pm
  • A pre-sales link will go out via ParentPay and year WhatsApp groups this week!

We have some great events planned for over the next few months for the children and parents/carers alike. We are looking forward to announcing these next week! Keep your eyes peeled….

*We urgently need volunteers to help with events! Please use this link to join the Quiz Night Volunteering Team! https://chat.whatsapp.com/JriGEsPLRV28HNs5h7VlBy

Next HTSC Meetings:

Social & HTSC Meeting on Wednesday 1st March at The March Hare pub at 7.30pm. We really encourage everyone to come attend the meeting and social event to keep up to date and contribute ideas for events. Your input is valuable and it’s a great opportunity to meet other parents/carers at HT!

Other Notices

Dear Parents at local schools, 

The St Catherine's Prep School PTA would like you to invite you to the 2023 Prep PTA Lecture which will be given by Dr Angharad Rudkin a Chartered Psychologist and Registered Psychological Practitioner.  She will speak on the topic of 'Happy parents and happy children - steps towards making this dream a reality' on the 7th March at 8pm in the St Catherine's School Anniversary Halls Auditorium.  The bar will be open from 7.30pm.

There is so much science, evidence and theory about parenting and Dr Rudkin's talk will bring together some key findings from psychological research to highlight the steps we can take to become more confident, happier parents, and to have resilient, contented children. 

This Lecture is free of charge, funded by St Catherine's PTA community activities such as the Autumn Picnic and Summer Fair.

Dr Angharad Rudkin has worked as a Clinical Psychologist with children and families for over 20 years and also lectured at the University of Southampton until recently, when she left to focus more on her writing. Angharad has co-authored two children's books with Ruth Fitzgerald Find your Girl Squad and The Split Survival Kit, and two parent books with Tanith Carey, What's My Child Thinking? and What's My Teenager Thinking?. Angharad is an Agony Aunt for the Metro Relationship Column and regularly appears on radio and TV. Signed copies of her books will be available to purchase.

With kind regards, 

Gillian Richards & Alex Groben, St Catherine's Prep School PTA Co-Chairs
prepschoolpta@stcatherines.info
www.stcatherines.info